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. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth