Answer: Carrots

Carrots, a snack beloved by children and witty cartoon rabbits alike, are easily identifiable by their shape and vibrant orange color. That orange color, however, is a recent evolution in the carrot and was introduced by Dutch farmers cultivating the wild ancestor of modern carrots way back in the 17th century.

The carrots the Dutch were cultivating were a deep purple color, and although rather wild by modern standards of agricultural cultivation, weren’t even the first stage of carrot domestication. As far back as 1,100 years ago, the earliest ancestor of the modern carrot was being slowly cultivated in regions of the Middle East now located in modern day Iran and Afghanistan.