# Why do my organic carrots have cracks?



## Kari_mom (Jun 1, 2003)

Anyone know? My organic carrots always seem to have a lot of cracks. I find this true in the whole carrots as well as the baby carrots. I don't need perfect tasteless produce, but I don't like cracked carrots. I can't clean them very well, and if they do start to mold, the crack is where it starts.

It is a petty problem, but it bugs me.







: I end up composting too many of my carrots. Are carrots on the top 10 to avoid list? Or should I switch back to coventionally grown carrots?


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## saratc (May 13, 2006)

My theory is that in some grocery stores, not enough people buy organic so the carrots sit around in the store too long and they dry out and/or crack. When I go to stores that have a good turnover of organic foods like whole foods and Trader Joe's, I seldomly find cracked carrots. I always buy bags without cracks but sometimes if I let it sit too long at home, I get cracks. How are you storing your carrots? I've never gotten mold on mine.

I would never go back to conventional carrots simply because I can actually taste the pesticides. DH and I love carrot juice and when we used conventional carrots, I had to peel them or the juice tasted bitter and kind of like dirt. Now we always use organic, and I just lightly scrub the outside of the carrots and juice peel and all, and the juice is incredibly sweet.


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## Kari_mom (Jun 1, 2003)

I would definitely say that organic doesn't move as fast in the grocery stores where I shop as it would in a crunchier part of the country, so maybe the carrots are old. I don't get mold often, mostly when I forget we have the washed and peeled 'baby' carrots in the crisper or I try to save a whole carrot for a particular recipe that I don't seem to get around to making. I store them in the original bag in my crisper drawer. They have cracks when I first open up the package, the day I bring them home, so I don't think it is how I store them. I do look for nice uncracked carrots, but it can be hard to spot them.

I have to say, though, that I've had bitter organic carrots and sweet organic carrots, just as I do with the conventionally grown carrots.


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