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3x More Calcium Than Milk, Impossible to Kill: The "Peasant" Vegetable Big Ag Sprays With Glyphosate

There is a plant growing behind your shed right now that contains three times more calcium than whole milk and five times more iron than spinach. It fed the Roman legions and sustained European peasants for 500 years, earning the name of a King. Yet, in the 20th century, it was rebranded as a "weed of disturbed ground."
This is the story of Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus), the perennial "Poor Man's Asparagus" that defies the business model of modern farming, and why we are taught to poison a superfood.

🔬 THE SCIENCE:

According to ethnobotanical analysis documented by Bussmann et al. (2017), Good King Henry leaves contain approximately 309mg of calcium per 100g. In comparison, whole milk contains roughly 113mg per 100g. This plant delivers a massive, bioavailable skeletal support system without the need for dairy.

Historical analysis and wild food studies place the iron content between 12-15mg per 100g. Modern supermarket spinach averages just 2.7mg. You would need to consume nearly five plates of raw spinach to equal the mineral density of a single serving of Good King Henry.

Botanically, it is a hardy perennial in the Amaranth family. Unlike annual spinach which dies after a few months, Good King Henry establishes a deep taproot that mines the subsoil for minerals, living for 20+ years. It functions as a "dual crop," producing asparagus-like shoots in April and protein-rich leaves in June.

It serves as a specific ecological indicator for nitrogen-rich soil. It thrives in "waste spaces" (old manure heaps, barnyards), efficiently cycling excess nitrogen into protein-rich greenery, preventing leaching while requiring zero fertilization.

💰 THE SUPPRESSION:

The decline of Good King Henry was a logistical decision. Unlike annual spinach, its leaves lose turgidity (wilt) within hours of picking. It cannot survive the multi-day supply chain of the modern supermarket, so it was replaced by inferior crops that hold water and look better on a shelf.

It breaks the economic loop of industrial agriculture. Because it is perennial and propagates via root division, it generates no recurring revenue for seed companies. There is no profit in a vegetable a farmer only needs to plant once in a lifetime.

Today, it is actively destroyed. Because it is a broadleaf plant that thrives in fence lines and field edges, it is targeted by broad-spectrum herbicides like 2,4-D and glyphosate to maintain the aesthetic of "clean" monocultures. We are literally poisoning a calcium powerhouse to make room for corn.

📚 SOURCES:

Bussmann, R. W., et al. (2017). Ethnobotany of the Caucasus. Springer. (Nutritional analysis).
Toensmeier, E., et al. (2020). Perennial vegetables: A neglected resource for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and nutrition. PLOS ONE.
Mabey, R. (1972). Food for Free. HarperCollins.
Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal. Harcourt, Brace & Company.
USDA National Nutrient Database. Spinach, raw / Milk, whole.
Kallas, J. (2010). Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt To Plate. Gibbs Smith.

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