What's the difference between beets and sugar beets?

[no_hypocrisy]

Or are they one and the same?

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. Two completely different varieties of beet

Although both are members of the species Beta Vulgaris. It's like the difference between Russet potatoes and Yukon Golds.

[pinto]

2. Sugar beets are grown solely for the production of sugar. They're much larger than table beets.

It was and is bred for size and sugar content. USDA estimates ~ 1/3 of the world's sugar is derived from sugar beets. (The rest comes from sugar cane.) Pulp that remains after processing is used as livestock feed. Big crop staple in CA.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Thanks y'all.

Having nothing to compare, I plead ignorance until now.

Plus seeing (or rather, tasting) that beets are sweet, it was hard to differentiate with that criteria.

BTW, this summer I had a breakthrough: I used to hate beets; now I love them.

[Warpy]

13. I disliked a lot of veggies

until I discovered what grilling and roasting did for them.

Even nasty turnips are tamed by roasting them with a little tamari.

[grasswire]

4. sugar beets used for granulated sugar...

....are genetically modified, aren't they?

I only buy cane sugar for that reason.

[pinto]

5. I don't think they are. Seed producers breed for inherent, genetic disease resistance.

But GMO? Could be wrong, but I don't think so.

[grasswire]

6. yeah, one of the top 9 GMO foods

7. SUGAR BEETS
GM since: 2005
How widespread: 95 percent of the US sugar-beet crop was genetically modified in 2009, according to the USDA. Around half of the sugar produced in the US comes from sugar beets.
What to watch for: If a non-organic bag of sugar or a product containing conventional sugar as an ingredient does not specify “pure cane sugar,” the sugar is likely a combination of cane sugar and GM sugar beets.

[pinto]

7. I'm unclear on what constitutes GM classification.

Does the USDA mean artificially modified or basic natural genetic breeding?

[grasswire]

8. maybe someone here knows.

I don't. I was pissed recently to find out that pineapples from Costa Rica are GMO.

[pinto]

9. What's the web link to your earlier post? That may provide some clarity.

[grasswire]

11. I googled

...and got to www.greenamerica.org which has a list of the top 9 GMO foods.

I'm sure there are many web sites with more detail.

[pinto]

10. (Totally aside) Sugar beets may have an interesting political history in the WWI era.

Major commodity at the time. Apparently we (US) banned exports to Europe as a political / economic move. What I've read is brief and mentioned in passing.

[locks]

12. Beets

We're getting a lot of light pink almost colorless beets in the organic stores. They're really good and taste just like red beets. Maybe everybody but me has had them?