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Eat your greens (purples, blacks, blues and stripes, too)

WENCY LEUNG

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 9:50 AM EDT 27/03/08

Purple carrots, candy cane beets, blue potatoes and other naturally neon produce are topping foodies' grocery lists. But their appeal may be more about aesthetics than flavour ...Read the full article

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  1. Joseph Whistle from Canada writes: Perhaps they can mandate that GMO vegetables must all be colored differently, so that we can avoid them. The reason we should avoid them is because on the main motivations of GMO is to make the vegetables be able to survive certain pesticides and herbicides. In its modified form, a field can be sprayed the living daylights out of with the vegetables dying off along with the weeds and pests.
    It's not the frankenstein food aspect that's dangerous, it's the fact that we end up eating industrials chemicals.
    These chemicals are carcinogenic. The industry tells the government that below certain doses, it's safe. I don't believe it and neither should you.
    So, color those darn vegetables. Vegetables for idiots.
  2. Graham Brown from Sarnia, writes: Get up on the wrong side of the bed today Joe? Geez - if it bothers you so much, just don't eat the purple carrots. I won't either.
  3. guy tozer from Saskatoon, Canada writes: Of course their appeal is more aesthetic than flavour. Nothing at all wrong with the "old fashioned food". And who will buy this rainbow of chemically enhanced garbage? The followers, you know, the ones that dress like Brittany, and give their kids all they want. The "look at me" people. Disgusting as GMO foods are they will be marketable.
  4. David Ruta from Montreal, Canada writes: guy tozer from Saskatoon, Canada writes: Of course their appeal is more aesthetic than flavour. Nothing at all wrong with the "old fashioned food". And who will buy this rainbow of chemically enhanced garbage? The followers, you know, the ones that dress like Brittany, and give their kids all they want. The "look at me" people. Disgusting as GMO foods are they will be marketable.
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Next time, Guy, I suggest that you read the article more thoroughly. Most of these different coloured vegetables are varieties that have been around hundreds of years but have gone of of style because people (like you) only want the perfectly red tomato that is exactly the same colour every time.
    Chances are, my uninformed friend, that by going to your grocery store and avoiding things like green tomatoes and purple beans YOU are the one who is eating more of the chemical garbage. Tomatoes are not naturally that red or that shiny.You know who buys that garbage? People like you who don't have any idea where food comes from and never question what goes in to their produce.
  5. Mark H from Indy, United States writes: "David Ruta from Montreal, Canada writes: guy tozer from Saskatoon, Canada writes: Of course their appeal is more aesthetic than flavour. Nothing at all wrong with the "old fashioned food". And who will buy this rainbow of chemically enhanced garbage? The followers, you know, the ones that dress like Brittany, and give their kids all they want. The "look at me" people. Disgusting as GMO foods are they will be marketable. ----------------------------------------------------- Next time, Guy, I suggest that you read the article more thoroughly. Most of these different coloured vegetables are varieties that have been around hundreds of years but have gone of of style because people (like you) only want the perfectly red tomato that is exactly the same colour every time. " BINGO! For instance, orange carrots are a relativley new invention (the Dutch engineered them to honor the House or Orange). Before then, carrots were black or red (they still grow them this way in the Balkans and North Africa - orange carrots just have a mutation that make them have freakishly high abouts of beta-carotene). Blue and purple potatoes are the same way, a naturally-occuring genetic mutation. There's nothing beyond 1600s-level genetic tinkering going on here, no "chemical enhancement" involved. Calm down, eco-nuts.
  6. rob gunn from Shawnigan Lake BC, Canada writes: The motivation is too feed the world. Most of eat too much so they need to grow more food , stop eating so much you are already fat. David you are a bit right, some veggies do come in different colours naturally , but these are not natural variants they are gmo, to make more $$$.
  7. carol c from Canada writes: 'some veggies do come in different colours naturally , but these are not natural variants they are gmo, to make more $$$.'

    You are wrong. Heirloom varieties of vegetables come in a myriad of colours. Purple potatoes, purple and red carrots, orange eggplant, black tomatoes, blue beans. Here is a small listing from Seeds of Change: http://www.gardenwiseonline.ca/gw/sustainable-gardening/2006/11/01/grow-heirloom-vegetables

    Educate yourselves, please. Food is a very important issue, but the last thing we need is people without knowledge spreading falsehoods.
  8. John S from Canada writes: People, please read the article....

    "These garish veggies aren't the product of genetic engineering. "

    This article is about rare variants of of common vegetables/fruit with colours different from what we usually expect. There is no conspiracy to convince people to eat frankenfoods.

    Sometimes its fun to mix up the colours a bit; give people something they don't expect. And for some reason I really really like the taste of blue potatoes. They have a bit of a nutty flavour I rather like and recommend.
  9. Katie Clarke from Canada writes: Hello people! The world is not all black and white! It's a rainbow of colours! Especially plants! They naturally adapted to different environments, they diversified as they breed and cross breed. I have ready to go in my garden a large variety of NON GMO vegies, most of which can trace their genetic history 100 years or so, and none of them came through a lab. Spotted lettuce, purple carrots and beans, 'the lazy housewife' string bean (the first variety of string bean to be 'stringless') and many more!

    Nature has many colours, and we might as well enjoy them all on our plates. If you're afraid of GMO's then these are probably the varities for you, since they're not considered profitable by large chemical companies (who usually own the seed companies). They're not standard, not perfect, and they're unusual. Does that sound like a evil multinational marketing strategy to you?

    Read the article before you post about it. It'll save you looking like an idiot, and suprise! You might learn something- it seems like some of you might need to do that....soon.
  10. James Young from Brantford, Canada writes: From observation the vegetables really don't matter to most Canadians. I am astonished at how few people eat fresh vegetables even in season locally.

    Most supermarkets have more prepared food in the aisles than fresh. Our frig is full of semi-prepard 'slop', that my wife eats. I cook my own fresh vegetables.

    Yesterday she brought home some over green dried peas and told me they were delicious. I tried a few and all they were was dried roasted peas smothered in salt. Probably nutritional if simply dried.

    Canadian taste buds are programmed for salt, fat and sugar. It has to taste good meaning one of the three.

    Those stupid cooking shows on TV destroy the health of Canadians. A close analysis indicates that most of the stuff is simply food garnished with one of the big three-fat, sugar,salt.
    You figure.

    Durgan.
  11. Adrian D. from Vancouver, Canada writes: Does anybody know where you can buy these, in Vancouver?

    I have never seen them at the two large chain grocery stores, or the two small fresh produce stores near my house. Though I haven't specifically looked for them, orange cauliflower and pruble carrots would stand out!
  12. Rita Jackson from Victoria, PEI, Canada writes: There are hundreds of varieties of Potato. My uncle grew the blue potato for the flavor. PEI has a museum http://www.peipotatomuseum.com/site/index.htm

    If you live on PEI you can buy these many types. If you are elsewhere I do not know where you can buy them but you can grow them in your garden.

    I would not eat GMO food, but how would any of us know?
  13. G Kelly from Canada writes: YES!! These are the originals veggies! Carrots are SUPPOSED to come in white, yellow, orange, red, purple! It was the Dutch who changed them to orange for national pride - hillarious! ORANGE carrots are the GM food! And no one panics about that.

    Now, coloured carrots TASTE so much more... carroty! The reason is that they have been bred to taste good, not just for colour! Try a purple carrot, and it's almost piquant on one's tongue! A wonderful flavour!!!

    Adrian D, I get these coloured carrots all summer long at the Trout Lake farmers market, Saturday mornings, in Vancouver. Heck, you can also get heirloom potators, tomatoes, peppers, and beets there = enjoy!!
  14. G Kelly from Canada writes: I'm sorry to say, Rita, but we ALL eat GMO every single day...

    Case in point - orange carrots!
  15. B L from Canada writes: rob gunn from Shawnigan Lake BC, Canada writes: The motivation is too feed the world.

    Who's motivation? Montesanto's? Their motivation is only to fill the pockets of their shareholders.

    I grow heirloom tomatoes in my garden and they are NOTHING like those pink plastic things that seem to be so popular in the grocery store.
  16. stand up mimi from Canada writes: It's great to see more and more heirloom varieties of produce coming back, mainly at farmer's markets. Supermarkets are still stuck in that food monoculture that has taken over in the last few decades. There may be hundreds of varieties of tomatoes and squash (for example), but you never see more than two or three at the grocery store. Unfortunately, cheap food is what most people want, not delicious and healthy food. I think the flavour of the mass produced vegetables is one reason so many people don't like vegetables. They're developed for long storage capabilities, not flavour.
  17. frank arnold from pickering, Canada writes: Re:Rita from P.E.I.,s commrnt on blue potatos.The Sobey's store in Pickering on Brock Road has blue potatos available on a regular basis.My family has purchased and consumed them quite often.On the other hand,these could be your garden variety potatos displayed a little too close to the Pickering nuclear plant.
  18. stand up mimi from Canada writes: B L from Canada writes: "Montesanto's? Their motivation is only to fill the pockets of their shareholders."

    Very true. The biggest GMO crop is corn, and the motivation to grow so much corn has nothing to do with feeding people. Read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan for an interesting - and scary - look at the corn industry in the US.
  19. Mark H from Indy, United States writes: "G Kelly from Canada writes: YES!! These are the originals veggies! Carrots are SUPPOSED to come in white, yellow, orange, red, purple! It was the Dutch who changed them to orange for national pride - hillarious! ORANGE carrots are the GM food! And no one panics about that."

    Hehe - as are the Cavendish banana (about the only kind you can buy), Hass avacados, brussels sprouts, broccoli, califlower, corn, and about every other useful plant that we eat in abundance.

    And you're right about looking at the farmer's market, too - I've never seen a market chain (even the uppity ones like Whole Foods) carry the heirloom varieties. There's always your backyard, too. Nothing like veggies from the garden.
  20. guy tozer from Saskatoon, Canada writes: Well I certainly achieved my goal on this one . I happen to work in a national grocery store, in produce, and we do carry already, a plethora of "different" fruits and vegetables. I have tried them all , and personally I grow my own tomatoes, for the flavour. At this time of year all our fruits and veggies are coming from California or Central and South America, and I wouldn't give you a dime, for any of the "tasteless" crap that we are selling. I grew up in southern Ontario, spoiled by the tomato fields of Leamington and the cucumbers . Of the fruit trees around the Niagara penninsula. And now people are complacent with underripe, no taste, friuts that should be soft and juicy but are as hard as rocks; nectarines and peaches, come to mind. You're grapes are all gassed in ammonia, as are many other fruits. However, I stirred the beehive with my original post and accomplished the feed back I expected .Thanx
  21. Ricky for a Centrist Canada from Canada writes:
    I steamed a big bowl of veggies the other day to have along with some short ribs I was braising....just some carrots, whole peas, some baby corn, and green beans. A small knob of real butter, salt and pepper. So simple, but it was really refreshing and satisfying. The more I cook, the more I find simpler is tastier.
  22. Robin Bristow from Regina, Canada writes: For all of you looking for the multi coloured vegetables - find a little spot in your yard and plant some seeds. There are a number of great on line seed stores that sell seeds for yellow, red, purple, white carrots, yellow, white, candy cane beets, many different colours of tomatoes, both large and cherry size as well as other vegetables. I have grown these ususual varieties for years. They always ellicit comments and are delicious. Plus they are a great way to get kids interested in gardening.
  23. J S from Canada writes: guy tozer...you're not fooling anybody...
  24. Lemmy Nothor from Exiled in Barcelona, Spain writes: Great article. It should be followed by a great song....and here it is. Call Any Vegetable 2:20 Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention Cheesy, cheesy! (This is a song about vegetables . . . they keep you regular; they're real good for ya.) Call any vegetable (Call any vegetable) Call it by name (Call any vegetable) Call one today (Call any vegetable) When you get off the train (Call any vegetable) Call any vegetable And the chances are good Ooooh! The vegetable Will respond to you (Some people don't go for prunes . . . I dunno . . . I've always found that if they . . . ) Call any vegetable (Call any vegetable) Pick up your phone (Call any vegetable) Think of a vegetable (Call any vegetable) Lonely at home (Call any vegetable) Call any vegetable And the chances are good That a vegetable will respond to you-hoooo RUTA-BAY-AY-AYGA RUTA-BAY-AY-AYGA RUTA-BAY-AY-AYGA RUTA-BAY-AY-AYGA RUTA-BAYYYYY . . . (A prune isn't really a vegetable. Cabbage is a vegetable.) No one will know If you don't want to let 'em know No one will know 'Less it's you that might tell 'em so Call and they'll come to you Covered with dew Vegetables dream Of responding to you Standing there Shiny & proud by your side Holding your hand While the neighbors decide Why is a vegetable Something to hide? YAR-R-R-R-R-G-H!
  25. Hart Oldenburg from winnipeg, Canada writes: Here we go again, five, ten portions each day, all colors--in midwinter--- where from? It's hard to say, hard to chew, hard to taste! Yes, I'm suspicious, for good reason---I try to help my vegan rabbits, toss them some lettuce and watch them run --- away from it--(my taste test).
  26. Akbar M from Regina, Canada writes: My wife and I have been growing these heirloom varieties for several years now. A tomato pie made out of black, purple, yellow, orange, green and red tomatoes is really quite beautiful. Different tomatoes have different flavours just like different varieties of apples have different flavours. I'm very glad that we happened on to this ages ago. To me eating only one kind of tomato (or any other vegetable for that matter) is like only ever eating McIntosh apples. I'd be missing out.
  27. Simon Spivey from Lakefield, Canada writes: We've grown the blue potatoes for a while, and they certainly taste good and don't require any special care. Any years I've attempted to give the soil a 'break' from potatoes, they've come up anyhow. About as far from the philosophy if GMO as you can get ('You buy it from us, put it in the ground--then next year, you buy it from us again...and again...)

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