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Let's Talk About Roots You Can Eat!

Did you know that you can eat all kinds of plant parts like stems and roots? Over the next few weeks, we will learn about different common fruits and vegetables that are different parts of the plant. Today we are going to start exploring all parts of the plant and then "dig in" with some roots that we eat. 

carrots

Let's Think About Some Roots We Eat

Roots are the part of the plant that is underground. Roots provide structure, nutrients, and water to help the plant grow. When we think about roots that we eat, we think about if the part that we eat is what grows under the ground.
An example of a root we eat is a potato because the part we EAT grows underground.  Lettuce is not a root because while it has roots under the ground, the part that we EAT is above ground.

Can you think of any vegetables that you eat that grow underground?

Hover to see if you came up with some of the same examples we did!

Here's some common vegetables that are roots:
  • Carrot
  • Radish
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Potato
  • Sweet potato
  • Rutabaga
  • Ginger

Fun Facts About Root Vegetables

  1. Originally, wild carrot varieties ranged in color from white to purple.
  2. Root vegetables are low in calories and high in antioxidants. (which is help keep your body healthy)
  3. Because they grow underground, root vegetables absorb a great amount of nutrients from the soil they grow in which helps make them healthy

Discover more fun facts about root vegetables in this great article form the Arizona Farm Bureau.

 

roots

Get Tasting!

Ready to eat lots of different plant parts? Use our Tasting Sheet and Food Journal Template to describe the different plants you've eaten. You can also challenge yourself to draw a picture of at least 3 different plant parts you've tried before!