Same reason some people peel potatoes. I don’t bother myself, I just wash them (unless I’m eating the carrot fresh without cooking)
Comment on Carrot
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 1 day agoYou peel carrots? Why‽
RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
I peel carrots because to me the peel tastes like dirt. As for that whole poop discussion, I’m pretty sure that guano in the soil is not the worst contaminant on the skin of the carrot. E. coli on vegetables for instance usually comes from the hands of someone who handled it.
I grant you that the skin probably also contains lots of vitamins, although there’s still plenty in the interior. And giving the carrot a really good scrub would get the skin clean.
But I’ve never been able to scrub away the dirt flavor to my satisfaction. So I peel them with a carrot peeler. The existence of which indicates it’s a common enough behavior not to merit an interrobang.
Though I do love an interrobang, so thanks.
HappyFrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Because they’ve been in the ground, and the ground is mostly poop
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 1 day ago
I mean, that's reason to wash it, but I don't think there's a medical argument for peeling. Could be wrong though, but I've never heard of this being a problem ever.
arrow74@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
Oh boy do I have bad news for you.
Basically everything in your environment is covered in human poop.
If you bring a carrot into your home it has way less poop on it than your toothbrush.
Routhinator@startrek.website 23 hours ago
Medical argument against it actually, as you remove most of the healthy stuff.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
Some, but not most. There’s significant nutrition in the phloem (layer under the skin) which is not removed by peeling. And even the center has nutritional value. It is best to peel them just before using rather than let them sit around once peeled, since the peel protects them.
HappyFrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’ll be sick if I eat the outer layer, I’m just grossed out by the thought.
shneancy@lemmy.world 1 day ago
honestly i don’t mind a bit of dirt with a touch of poop. if i myself pluck a carrot out of the ground - i’ll just wash it a bit and proceed to chomp
what i do mind is the number of hands and various containers the carrot goes through before it gets bought by me at a store. theoretically, nobody has to touch a carrot for it to appear in the store (harvested mechanically, transported in large quantities, thrown out of a box onto the store display), sure, but i’m not counting on that, nor am i counting on the fact they wash their hands properly
Routhinator@startrek.website 23 hours ago
In root vegetables, 80% of the vitamins are in the skin, and the flesh is nearly pure carbs. You’re throwing away most of the good stuff.