Ingredients: SPINACH, WATER, SALT. Chopped Spinach. Only the highest quality spinach goes into every can of Popeye Chopped Spinach for a delicious flavor. This vitamin-packed super food is washed, chopped and ready to go in your favorite meals.
Spinach can be harvested as soon as the oldest (outer) leaves are large enough to use. This usually occurs 40 to 50 days after seeding when the plants (which morphologically are rosettes) have at least five or six leaves present and the oldest leaves are about three inches in length. If the entire plant is to be harvested at once, wait until the first seed stalk appears to do so.
Horticulturists recognize three different types of spinach according to leaf morphology: savoy, semi-savoy and smooth-leafed. Many of the varieties developed for home gardening are of the savoy (“crinkly leafed”) type. Bloomsdale Long Standing is an old savoy variety that still retains a great deal of popularity among home gardeners. Melody is a popular smooth-leafed type, while Tyree enjoys success as a semi-savoy variety.
There are many unsubstantiated stories of why, during the depths of the Great Depression, cartoonist E.C. Segar chose the vegetable spinach to give his comic strip character Popeye the Sailor superhuman powers. Quite likely, it was his attempt to prompt children of all ages to eat more of this nutrient powerhouse. During that era, the diet of the average American was lacking in essential vitamins and minerals, and the nutritional well-being especially of children was of great concern.
The Germans knew about spinach by the 13th century and, by the 16th century, it found its way to France and England. Catherine de Medici, queen of France in 1533, was so fond of spinach that she ordered it to be served at every meal. Queen Catherine was born in Florence and, in reference to that fact, dishes made with spinach often are referred to as “Florentine.”
History does not record why spinach gave Popeye superman-like powers. However, nearly a century later, we know much more about the benefits of spinach in the human diet. In addition to being a potent source of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, spinach contains other phytonutrients important for human health. According to the Worlds Healthiest Foods (www.whfoods.com ), spinach contains cancer-fighting agents including flavonoid glucuronides. It also is an excellent source of the antioxidants lutein, zeaxanthin, neoxanthin and violaxanthin. All are anti-inflammatory in nature and can be helpful in preventing damage to human cells by eliminating free radicals. The latter has been indicated by some research to reduce incidence of heart disease, arthritis, stroke and other human disease, including cancer.
But perhaps the most fitting reflection on what the Popeye story teaches us can be found in Dorion Sagan’s fantastic meditation on why science and philosophy need each other, in which he observes:
During my teenage years, given my athleticism, my insatiable appetite for spinach, and my last name, friends were quick to latch onto the stuff of pop-culture legend and nickname me Popeye. But it turns out that besides perpetrating the crime of the too-obvious-for-its-own-good pun, they were also perpetuating one of history’s strangest and most egregious scientific errors.
Arbesman uses the Popeye story as an allegory of admonition against the all-too-human ego and our chronic propensity for shortcuts, the combination of which makes us too lazy to look closer and too afraid to admit we’ve been blind and wrong:
Popeye spinach compilation
FAQ
What is Popeye’s spinach?
Is Popeye canned spinach healthy?
What was the deal with Popeye and spinach?
Why does Popeye eat so much spinach?
Does Popeye eat spinach?
In almost every Popeye cartoon, the sailor is invariably put into what seems like a hopeless situation, upon which (usually after a beating), a can of spinach becomes available, and Popeye quickly opens the can and consumes its contents.
Is spinach good for your eyes?
Green leaves and vegetables are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, classified as antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory and healing action. They help to increase the perception of brightness, vision to vision. In addition, it contains folic acid, a mineral that stimulates blood production and prevents anaemia.
What did Popeye say about spinach?
Many people did believe what Popeye said about spinach. The belief that eating spinach would result in big muscles and greater strength began long ago, as far back as 1870.
Did Popeye help increase American consumption of spinach by a third?
Apparently Popeye helped increase American consumption of spinach by a third! This error was eventually corrected in 1937, when someone rechecked the numbers. But the damage had been done. It spread and spread, and only recently has gone by the wayside, no doubt helped by Popeye’s relative obscurity today.