“Whenever I’m on holiday or out for dinner and get talking to people I haven’t met before they’re always interested when I say I’m a carrot farmer,” reflects Guy Poskitt.
This isn’t an experience unique to him. His good friend and chairman of the British Carrot Growers Association (BCGA), Rodger Hobson, says the same.
The pair of them, along with four other carrot farming families, have joined forces to finance today’s inaugural National Carrot Day.
Hobson puts the interest in what he harvests down to carrots being a “happy vegetable that makes people smile” (think snowman’s nose) but Poskitt says he gets lots of questions about the scientific side of growing carrots, along with the journey from field to fork.
Whatever the reason for this basic interest and undoubted affection for the carrot, the aim of today’s celebration is to harness it. To try to stop shoppers from taking it for granted, raising this humble root crop’s ranking in the vegetable rack.
While none of the farmers taking part in National Carrot Day are expecting to replicate the reverence reserved for the likes of British-grown asparagus they would dearly love for families to realise how much hard work goes into growing them.
This year’s push for public support comes on the back of one of the worst in memory for carrot growing.
Carrots wilt when it is hot and rot in waterlogged soils. They suffered both last year, with both record rain and heatwaves.
“Last year was a nightmare,” says Poskitt, who farms at Goole, East Yorkshire.
Christmas brought no cheer, with many farmers forlorn to see supermarkets discounting bags of carrots to as little as 15 pence.
“While such Christmas promotions are funded by retailers not growers it can be disappointing seeing the prices of our carrots slashed to such low levels,” says Poskitt, who grows 50,000 tons (packed weight) of carrots a year. “It undervalues our produce and definitely increases food waste, with customers looking at the carrots as valueless so simply over-purchasing.”
Growers will be spending today in – where else? – the middle of a field in Nottinghamshire exploring over 80 trial plots of different carrot varieties.
“Of course, the ultimate aim is to find varieties that can better put up with climate change extremes,” explains Poskitt.
But what about the public, how can they show some love for carrots?
“Please don’t take British-harvested carrots for granted; check the bag to see where your carrots have been grown,” says Poskitt, 61, who says being joined in the business by his 23-year-old son Ben has given him a new determination to secure a future for the crop his family has been growing since the late 1950s.
Martin Emmett, chairman of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Horticulture and Potatoes Board, praised the carrot farmers for highlighting the “incredible work” of growers, adding that the NFU is currently calling on the Government to “support our growers and address the critical challenges they face, from labour shortages to rising input costs.”
“Horticulture is vital to achieving the UK’s food security goals, and by supporting and investing in the sector, we can help drive sustainability, self-sufficiency and a future where more of our food is grown here in the UK,” said Emmett.
“On National Carrot Day, we celebrate the humble carrot as a symbol of the essential role British growers play in delivering fresh, homegrown produce to our tables - and with the right support, they’ll continue to do so for generations to come.”
Four must-try carrot recipes
National Carrot Day aims to push people out of their culinary comfort zones; to look at carrots as a more versatile vegetable than simply cutting up to placate hungry toddlers or boiling up and buttering.
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