Popeye Was Based On The Mistaken Amount Of Iron In Spinach

National Spinach Day is observed annually on March 26th.  Not only are there so many delicious ways that you can enjoy spinach, but it is also incredibly good for you!

• Thought to have originated in ancient Persia, Arab traders carried spinach into India, and then it was introduced into ancient China where it was known as “Persian vegetable
• The earliest available record of the spinach plant was found in Chinese, saying that the spinach plant was introduced into China via Nepal.
• During her reign as queen of France, Catherine de Medici was well known to have enjoyed spinach so much that it was served at every meal.  To this day, dishes made with spinach are known as “Florentine” reflecting Catherine’s birth in Florence.
• There are many varieties of spinach, though they mostly fall into three distinct groups: Savoy (Dark green, crinkly and curly leaves. Commonly found in supermarkets.), Flat/smooth leaf spinach (Most commonly used for canned and processed spinach products, though “baby spinach” also fits in this group. Easier to wash and clean than Savoy.), and Semi-savoy (Hybrid variety with slightly crinkled leaves. It has the same texture as savoy, but it is not as difficult to clean.)
• In 1931 U.S. spinach growers credited Popeye with a 33% increase in domestic spinach consumption – a welcome boost to an industry during the depression era.
• The creator of the comic strip character, Popeye, E.C. Segar was a vegetarian and as a way of promoting the benefits of vegetables, he boosted his character’s strength with a known iron-rich food. Popeye has been portrayed since 1931
• Popeye’s instant transformation was based on a research mistake about the amount of iron in spinach (3.5 milligrams, not 35). This mistake (and unintended marketing bonanza for canned spinach)
• The spinach growing town of Crystal City, Texas, erected a statue of Popeye in 1937.
• Two U.S. cities claim to be the ‘spinach capital of the world’: Crystal City, Texas and Alma, Arkansas. Each April in Alma, there’s a spinach festival.
• California is today the US’s #1 grower/supplier of spinach, accounting for almost three quarters (3/4) of national production. Other spinach-growing states include Arizona, New Jersey, Texas, Colorado, Maryland and Arkansas.
• Alma, Arkansas (population approx. 4,700), holds an annual spinach festival each April, organized by the Alma Chamber of Commerce. Alma proclaims itself to be the “spinach capital of the world”, a title also claimed by Crystal City, Texas. Alma is the home of “Allen Canning Company” which cans and ships spinach.
• In March 2005, Bon Appetit magazine’s annual survey showed that 56% of respondents said that spinach was their favorite vegetable.
• The U.S. is only the world’s second largest producer of spinach, producing a mere 3% of global production. China is the world’s largest spinach producer with 85% of global production.
• Medieval artists extracted green pigment from spinach to use as an ink or paint.
• The first written evidence of spinach in the Mediterranean was recorded in three 10th-century works: the medical work by al-Rāzī (known as Rhazes in the West) and in two agricultural treatises, one by Ibn Waḥshīyah and the other by Qusṭus al-Rūmī.
• On average, each American eats 3 pounds of spinach a year, according to the USDA
• Spinach was the first frozen vegetable to be sold commercially. Thanks to the flash-freezing process, it was introduced by Clarence Birdseye in 1930 in Springfield, Massachusetts under the name Birds Eye Frosted Foods.
• It did so in “Life” magazine in 1949.
• Spinach can trace its bad rap to a 1928 New Yorker cartoon that depicted a child turning down a plate of spinach at the dinner table. ‘It’s broccoli, dear,’ the mother says, trying to coax her daughter into tasting the suspicious veggie. ‘I say it’s spinach, and I say the hell with it,’ retorts the child.
• Two U.S. cities claim to be the ‘spinach capital of the world’: Crystal City, Texas and Alma, Arkansas. Each April in Alma, there’s a spinach festival.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Mobile-Cuisine

Just Fun Facts

Fill Your Plate

The Humble Gardener