Sweet potatoes are a fabulous source of vitamin A and make great lunch box additions. 
Not just for holidays, these spuds are year-round favorites. A small amount of butter or oil maximizes the full beta-carotene amount found in them. Steaming or boiling also maximizes their nutritional benefits.
As far back as the 1500s, southerners were depending upon sweet potatoes for a great deal of their basic nutrition. They have served as a valuable staple for mankind throughout the ages.
The earliest sweet potatoes go way back to the Peruvians 10,000 years ago. How they arrived in North America from there is not clear. We do know, that while Columbus is credited more often for introducing European agricultural items to North America, this time he carried the sweet potato with him back to Europe. From there, Spanish and Portuguese seamen brought them to Africa, India and Asia. Continue reading
And, not all of them are orange. Carrots are also available to us in purple, yellow, white or red colors, and these are revivals, not recent genetic innovations. Today China and Russia produce the largest amount of the world’s carrots. The U.S. comes in third with the most grown in California, Michigan and Texas.