New carrots � worth the price?

[AB Asks]

Baby Organic Parisienne carrots are going on sale in Marks and Spencer. They are a tiny alternative to the regular carrot and boast a sweeter taste, their skin is so soft that they do not need peeling or chopping. They do however cost four times more than the usual carrots. Would you pay over the odds for the sweeter tasting, no-need-to-peel vegetable?

[funnygirl]

NO!
I cook ordinary carrots with a teaspoon of sugar in the water. They come out sweet!!

[heathfield]

Marks & Spencers TV ads can be paraphrased as...'This is not just food. It's bleeding expensive food'.

The BBC Radio 4 food programme did an item yesterday revealing that UK supermarkets between them stock 27000 different food items. With increasingly prosperous countries like China and India the demand for these will grow. From an agricultural point of view the planet is not capable of sustaining this excess. Supermarket bosses are gradually coming round to the idea that soon they're going to have to start cutting back toward simpler and more plainly nutritious foods. Many are beginning to study this under what they call 'food editing'.

I'm with Funnygirl, except I use two teaspoons of sugar!

[amonty1144]

Would never buy food in M and S it is just a con, these veg are just overpriced.
I pull mine out of the garden when in season or just peel and boil ordinary bog standard onses from the supermarket. If you want sweet carrots, roast them and glaze them in honey, delicious.

[natalie_1982]

I only peel carrots if it looks like they need it anyway, once they are washed I just see the skin as fibre!

On occassion I have bought M&S fruit / veg because they are the only supermarket we have in the City Centre and if I need it for tea that night then the green gocer is shut by the time I get there after work. M&S fruit / veg is always a bit suspicious looking to me - too perfect, there's not one mishapen or bruised or lumpy product! And it is incredibly expensive.

[indianwells]

I cook my carrots until just tender in water, a knob of butter, a finely chopped shallot, a teaspoon of sugar and salt and pepper. Once the carrots are done I take them out and reduce the remaining liquid in the pan down to about 1 TBSP. I then toss the carrots back in the pan with some finely chopped parsley and coat in the sticky residue.
Sounds like a bit of a faff but you really should taste them!

[LoftyLottie]

NO! I would never buy fruit and veg from M&S unless that was the only place open. In fact I don't buy any food from M&S - totally overrated and overpriced. The tele ads makeme wince and I hope nobody is taken in by them.

I don't peel my carrots anyway. Just wash or scrub them and take out any manky bits. Same with potatoes (unless they are to be mashed).

It takes so little time to prepare vegetables - they really are the best form of 'fast' food.

[LoftyLottie]

Agree with you Natalie. We have come to expect all our fruit and veg to look perfect and nice and clean and evenly shaped. I would love to go back to the old style greengrocery where the veg were dirty (washing potates in the sink making loads of mud) and stayed fresh for so much longer.

I love to go shopping on the continent (especially the med.) where you can buy 'proper' fruit and veg.

[gina32]

m and s food is bought from the same sellers as morrisons, tesco, etc, because it has the name of marks and spencer on it people are silly enough to buy it, and if they buy it m and s will keep selling it.

[888sally888]

Waste of money but I do buy organic carrots from the supermarket and they taste so much better. Well worth it.

[Figi]

I do think it's worth paying extra for organic carrots, simply because they won't have sprayed with nasties so there's no need to peel or scrape them. But baby, perfectly shaped ones from M&S at their inflated prices are definitely not worth the money.

[meredith101]

Yes. They are delicious.

[shaneystar2]

Blimey ..no thanks ..I get my carrots out of the garden ! Muck and all . Or at a market stall where they are grown locally .I would never pay good money for "organic "stuff.This organic business is a marketing ploy.
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/media/iscience/artic le_template_typ.php?articleid=41

Any one who buys into this must have more money than sense .