Who is Popeye?
The spinach hero is credited with spurring a 33 percent increase in spinach consumption, saving the spinach industry during the 1930s Depression, according to King Features. Popeye first appeared as a comic strip in 1929. In 1933, heade his way to cartoons, where he would eat a can of spinach to give him extra strength before a brawl. “This is the seventh time we’ve done the survey, and spinach, by far, rated as the top favorite. For years, it’s been asparagus. We were surprised – this totally bubbled out of nowhere.” Spinach growers were delighted as well – but not all that surprised. Maggie Bezart with Ocean Mist Farms, a major grower of spinach in Central California, says the 80-year-old company has seen a steady surge in demand for fresh spinach, particularly in the past five years. “We have increased our spinach production between 7 and 15 percent a year because of the demand for high-quality spinach,” she says. Baby spinach, with its small, flat, tender leaves, was the key to the