Honouring Black History Month in October, Sophia Doyle explores the history of one of our most popular crops in our seed bank: Amaranth (Amaranthus species).
Amaranth plants are a use crop present on most continents and it has a history of movement and re-settling across the globe that mirrors the routes of the North Atlantic Slave Trade and is intimately tied up with histories of resistance against colonialism and dispossession in various different places across the earth. There are about 70 species of Amaranth, of which only about a dozen have been cultivated for either their seeds or as leafy greens for eating. Plus, its colours are beautiful, its flowers ranging from bright purple and red to orange and golden tones.
In many African societies vegetable amaranths make up a major source of protein, in some places it makes of as much as a quarter of the daily protein intake. The leaves and stems of some varieties can be boiled into a green vegetable dish and are extremely rich in protein and otherwise nutritious. It is considered a pseudocereal grain (because of its similar nutritional and culinary use to cereals) and has regained popularity in the Western health food movement and in food security circles alike due to its high nutritional value and high yield.
The oldest historic accounts of amaranths have been found in different areas of what is today called South America and archeological evidence suggests that it was a stable dish for the many civilizations / cultures that existed across the continent before colonial invasion, such as the Incas, Mayas and Aztecs. The plant was frequently used in ceremonies and rituals, attesting to the strong cultural role it played and it continues to hold a spiritual and material importance for Indigenous peoples across Abya Yala to Turtle Island (what is today referred to North and South America) and is included in the efforts of food sovereignty activists to decolonise their diets. Because amaranths are also present in historic food records across Asia there is an ongoing discussion about whether the species has two points of origin – Asia and the Americas, or if this fact might speak to the existence of pre-Columbian transoceanic trading between the two continents.
With the Spanish invasion of South America the growing of amaranth was outlawed because of the importance of the crop to the Indigenous people and its cultivation dwindled when amaranth fields were burnt and those who grew it were punished. Although it never took root in Europe, it quickly spread through Africa and gained strong popularity among many African cultures, where it is now a staple grain in many culinary cultures across the continent. Amaranth also made its way to the Carribbean along the routes of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Today amaranths are a popular leafy green in many islands of the Caribbean where the plant is commonly known as callaloo, and which you might know as the staple dish of the same name across London in Caribbean food circles.
Amaranths are a crop that has a strong presence in our seed stock. For one this is due to the plant being easy and extremely fast to grow. As many varieties are pioneer species it is quick to adapt and grow in most soil types – perfect for city growing! That different amaranths feature so regularly in the London Freedom Seed Bank is a perfect example of how the diversity of London’s population manifests in what we grow and demonstrates how the plant varieties have travelled with the communities that have migrated to London in the past and present.