Log into your account

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
Get started for free
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • Food Waste Movement
  • About Imperfect
Not a member yet?
Get started for free
Log into your account
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
  • Blog
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • About Imperfect
  • Food Waste Movement
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Featured Food

Where Did All the Carrot Tops Go?: Why Some Carrots Have Tops and Some Don’t.

Have you ever wondered why some carrots are sold with their bushy, parsley-like greens still attached while some are sold as solitary orange torpedos? We love de-mystifying the world of agriculture for curious folks like you. Here is everything that you always wanted to know about why root vegetables look the way they do in stores and in your Imperfect box.

Why is some produce sold with the tops on?

Items like beets and carrots naturally grow with gorgeous green leaves on top. After harvest, a grower will sometimes leave the leaves for appearances sake. This is because many stores and some grocery shoppers really like carrots and beets have that farmer’s market halo of freshness around them.

 If they’re so pretty, why would they ever take the tops off?

While keeping the leaves on root vegetables is great for natural appearances, it has major drawbacks from a freshness and durability standpoint. Besides being bulky and taking up storage space, the leaves actively draw moisture from the root, making it stay fresh for less time. The leaves will also wilt and go brown long before the root has gone bad, which is a hassle for produce that has to be shipped for any distance from where it’s harvested. For these reasons, carrot and beet tops are often taken off so they can be shipped easier, be packed more efficiently, and last for longer.

How does Imperfect choose which type to buy?

While we’d love to buy everything in the beautiful state that it was picked in, carrots and beets with the tops on are much more expensive and in much shorter supply on the produce market than the topless versions. Since we’re about delivering a great value and fighting waste, we usually end up sourcing topless beets and carrots since there are more of them on the marketplace to begin with, and because they will stay fresh longer and arrive at your door in top condition. When the full versions are available, however, we’ll often buy them to offer our customers variety and some extra beauty in their next box.

What can I do with my carrot tops and beet greens?

While stores may assume that you’ll just throw them away, If you get a beautiful bunch of Imperfect carrots or beets with the greens still attached, you don’t have to waste them. Save a buck and eat better by making them healthy and delicious addition to your next meal! Carrot greens taste a lot like parsley and make a great addition to pesto or chimichurri sauce. Beet greens are almost the same as chard and work really well in sautés and salads.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

guest

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Tagged Ingredient guides

You might find these a-peel-ing

Ingredient guides
Cooking With Beets: Everything...
Learn how to make this misunderstood root vegetable delicious with a few tips an...
Read more
Holiday
Great gifts under $10
Not all the best presents arrive via the chimney. This holiday, you can get swee...
Read more
Imperfect’s Zero-Waste G...
The pursuit of perfection can make the holidays stressful, so we’re here to help...
Read more
Product spotlights
Our Summer Produce Guide
If you ask the team at Imperfect, now is the time to really get excited about su...
Read more
Holiday
Lunar New Year Eats, Sweets, a...
The Lunar New Year is one of the most vibrant holidays celebrated around the wor...
Read more
Back to Featured Food

Want olive the latest?

Sign up for emails to stay up to date.

ImperfectFoods Logo
B Certificate Logo
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Download on the App Store Badge Download on the Google App Badge
Imperfect Foods © 2025. All Rights Reserved
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Personal Information