Instructions
History today seldom reflects on how close Great Britain came to succumbing to Nazi Germany by 1943. The Blitz had taken its toll on Londoners, while the North African campaign was going poorly. In the East, Singapore had fallen and the colonies might not be able to assist in a defence of the UK. Matters were dire indeed.
The British had 10 million men under arms, and many more in auxiliary units.
So here’s one of the key problems of total war: how do you feed your nation when one third of its able population are too busy fighting to contribute to national sustenance?
With difficulty.
In an attempt to ensure that sufficient protein-rich meat was available for their soldiers the British Government encouraged those on the Home Front to find alternative sources of nutrition. A 1930’s study had concluded (albeit on highly inaccurate research) that spinach was ten times as rich in protein as meat.
So the propagandists turned to that great proponent of spinach, Popeye the Sailorman, to promote a vegetarian resistance to fascism. The campaign was successful and Britons grew spinach in their yards for the daily dinner. In time Britain came to win the war. But no amount of historical re-evaluation will make spinach the superfood they believed.
Spinach contains marginally less protein than hamburger meat by weight, and significantly less than lean red meat. Importantly, protein exists in two forms: heme and non-heme. Heme protein is found exclusively in meats and is readily absorbed by humans. Non-heme protein is found in vegetables and is designed for consumption by ruminants like sheep, goats and cattle. Humans find it more difficult to absorb, requiring considerable amounts of digestible vitamin C to make use of this non-heme form. Without sufficient Vitamin C, the available protein in spinach simply passes through us.
Yet spinach is a delicious and nutritious vegetable that is a favourite worldwide, especially during its peak Spring growing season. Spinach should be distinguished from silverbeet and chard. Look for crisp green leaves with no dark spots. The larger leaves sold in bunches will always have more flavour than the bagged baby varieties, and are significantly better for cooking. Avoid overcooking spinach as its flavour will blacken and sour. Bypass the frozen variety as it will invariably disappoint.
Eggs Florentine