ABSTRACT
In the year that Popeye became once again a major movie star it is salutary to recall that his claims for spinach are spurious. Popeye’s superhuman strength for deeds of derring-do comes from consuming a can of the stuff. The discovery that spinach was as valuable a source of iron as red meat was made in the 1890s, and it proved a useful propaganda weapon for the meatless days of the second world war. A statue of Popeye in Crystal City, Texas, commemorates the fact that single-handedly he raised the consumption of spinach by 33%. America was ‘strong to finish ‘cos they ate their spinach’ and duly defeated the Hun.
