The ancient Romans were the first to cultivate the beet, although originating from North Africa.

In the 19th century it was discovered that beets could be converted into sugar, and immediately became a prized vegetable. The US, Russia, France, Poland and Germany are the major producers of beetroot today.

Tom Robbins features the beet in his wonderful novel Jitterbug Perfume:  "The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious."