Pubdate: Sun, 13 May 2001
Source: Auburn Journal (CA)
Section: Column, Foothill File
Copyright: 2001 Auburn Journal
Contact:  http://www.auburnjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/530
Author: Pat McCartney, City Editor, Auburn Journal
Address: P.O. Box 5910, Auburn, CA 95604
Note: The Journal has not accepted letters on drug policy from outside the 
county for the past year

CALIFORNIA MAY BE NEXT STATE TO RELEGALIZE BANNED PLANT

Once upon a time, one of the most important crops in the Americas was 
suppressed because it offended the sensibilities of the local ruling class.

Long before the United States outlawed hemp -- one of agriculture's 
earliest and most important crops -- the Spaniards banished the production 
of amaranth, the most important food staple of the Aztec Empire.

In a curious piece of history that resonates with today's prohibition of 
hemp or cannabis, the conquering Spaniards set about to eliminate the 
cultivation of amaranth. They were so successful that the nutritious grain 
is only now, more than 400 years later, re-entering the world of 
agricultural science.

Amaranth grew wild along the sandy riverbanks and coastal beaches of 
pre-Columbian Mexico. Not only were its leaves edible, but the plant's 
flowering stalk produced an abundance of small seeds that were highly 
valued as a grain and, when ground, as a flour. The Aztecs also made 
popcorn from the seeds.

With a taste described as sweet or nutty, amaranth has the distinction -- 
along with the hempseed -- of containing a large amount of protein, as well 
as essential fatty acids that are rare among cereal plants. By one 
estimate, amaranth can supply up to 87 percent of a human's nutritional 
requirements.
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MAP posted-by: Beth