I AM HAPPY to report that we are now buying fresh foods almost daily from our local farm stand, and one of my all-time summer favourites is carrots. Summer carrots have a lovely sweetness that just isn’t there during the winter months.
An expression says we eat first with our eyes, meaning that we are drawn to what is visually appealing. While the lovely orange hue of most carrots brightens up any plate, there is an heirloom variety now being grown in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley that offers immense visual appeal. Aptly named rainbow carrots, these tubers grow in colours that range from white to bright orange.
Peter and John Swetnam run Dominion Produce in Centreville, NS. Carrots have always been a staple crop on their farm, and several years ago they decided to experiment with rainbow carrots. Dominion now produces about 80,000 pounds of this heirloom variety annually, in addition to its two million pounds of regular, fresh market carrots.
Christina Swetnam, marketing and office manager for the farm, filled me in on some of the challenges of growing those heirlooms. “They are not the easiest carrot to grow; but we look at it as a growing challenge and something different and exciting to be involved with,” she says. “These carrots are susceptible to sunburn, so it is important to make sure as little as possible of the shoulder of the carrot is showing when it’s growing.”
Regular late-season carrots are typically grown for winter storage, so they often have a lower sugar content to allow for a longer shelf life. Christina says this is one way rainbow carrots trump regular varieties, because they are sweet no matter when they are consumed, and they tend to stay nice and crisp in storage.
In terms of nutrition, rainbow carrots have the same nutrients as regular orange carrots, says Christina. “The difference is in the amount and types of antioxidants in the coloured carrots.” Rainbow carrots contain carotenoids (the yellow, orange, and red pigments synthesized by plants) such as beta-carotene, lutein and lycopene. Results of some epidemiological studies associate diets high in carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers.