As soils across the globe become further depleted of minerals by intensive mono-cropping we're increasingly seeing lower grade vegetables make it to the standard shopping mall supermarkets. One of the solutions to this long term is buying certified organic produce which aside from being free of poisonous chemicals (such as the nerve toxin used on avocados and life destroying acid known as preservative 220 used on just about everything!) buying this organically certified produce encourages farmers to use systems that regrow and replenish the soil so that it gets healthier rather than more dead over time.

Until that time though it's useful to know how to look for the effects of mineral poor fruits and vegetables for yourself. While this is as broad a topic as fruits and vegetables themselves, one of the easiest ones to spot is the humble carrot. While a real carrot may not look pretty like in the stores (in fact wild carrots are small, round, stumpy and no where near as "pretty" as what we're used to!) a healthy carrot SHOULD NOT have splits running down the side of them. This is actually caused by a deficiency in Boron, which along with calcium are two of the most common soil deficiencies and are often representative of a wider problem in the soil. Unfortunately these split carrots are often sold as "Juicing" carrots, and people juicing the most carrots tend to be people trying to regain their health. Needless to say trying to regain your health by eating life poor, mineral deficient carrots may not be the best recipe for success!

SPECIAL NOTE: Many MLM companies (the ones that try and get your friends to sell you stuff) will tell you how our soil is so deficient in nutrients (agreed) that you MUST take their supplements to stay healthy (STRONGLY DISAGREE!). It is true that the plant needs to have access to what it needs to create its nutrients. This is a great case for buying produce from farms with healthy soil (such as organic certified farms) or better yet growing your own using 10% seawater with your standard water when you water your plants at home. (Seawater contains all 93 minerals). Unfortunately this argument scares many people into supplementing with the 20-30 artificial chemicles the MLM / drugstore are pushing instead of getting the 1000's our bodies have been getting from each piece of fresh produce. This is also why you will not see any vitamin / mineral supplements for sale on Raw-pleasure.com.au!

So in short, look for carrots that don't have any splits along the side, buy organic, and think about using a little diluted seawater on your home-grown produce! Oh, and ENJOY your food! It's about an abundance of pleasure and joy, not the fear of deficiencies!

Viva La Raw

Piers

Hi Musi,

Those carrots could still be organic, however being organic does not guarantee were not grown in nutrient deficient  poor quality soil. That's often why you'll see more expensive strong pretty and straight carrots sold for more, and the runty, split ones sold for less. It's not just about how they look!

Hope that helps!
Sheryl

I sent you a PM ages ago Piers re split carrots.  Just wanted to inform others now of my opinion on the matter to provide a more balanced thread.
By almost all accounts googled on carrot splits, they almost invariably say it is due to moisture irregularity in the soil, for example:
"Summer thunderstorms after long periods of drought can cause the root to take up a sudden increased volume of water. The root then splits open as the skin cannot cope with the sudden surge in growth."
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0804/vegetable_splitting.asp
"Carrots are very sensitive to soil moisture levels. When the soil isn’t moist enough, the main root develops many small feeder roots so it can soak up any available moisture more efficiently. At the same time, it forms extra tissue to carry the water, so it becomes tough. On the other hand, if there’s too much soil moisture, carrots sometimes split along their whole length. This happens more often when they are close to maturity."
http://www.yardener.com/ProblemsofCarrots.html
  The only site I came across that mentions Boron is a site that sells liquid fertilisers , but even they admit that the most common cause is moisture stress: "Calcium and boron are critical nutrients for carrot quality and a deficiency of these nutrients causes splitting in carrots and poor skin quality. Water management is critical in calcium nutrition as the most common cause of calcium deficiency is moisture stress." http://www.sjbagnutri.com.au/crops/carrots.htm

Rachan
Split carrots advocate.