The History of Amaranth

Amaranth has been cultivated for over 8,000 years. It belongs to the same botanical family as beets, chard, and spinach. Adaptable and disease-resistant, multiple parts of the plant are edible, making it a very sustainable and important crop. Most amaranth species are native to the Americas; Central and South American Indigenous Peoples were the first to cultivate amaranth. It was grown as a staple food source and also used for ornamental purposes. The Aztecs considered amaranth sacred and used the pseudo-grain (it’s actually a seed, not a traditional grain) in religious rituals. In the 16th century, the Spanish conquistadors prohibited the cultivation of amaranth out of fear that its spiritual meaning would stop them from establishing Catholicism in the area. However, Indigenous farmers preserved the seeds and continued to grow the crop in secret. In the 1960s, during the civil war in Guatemala, state forces began targeting the Maya and burning their fields. Mayan farmers preserved amaranth by sealing the seeds into glass jars and burying them in fields or hiding them under floorboards. Later, they retrieved the seeds and began growing amaranth and other traditional foods once more. Amaranth has many uses across many cultures — for example, Ethiopians use the seeds to make an unleavened bread called kita as well as a drink called borde, as well as a porridge for new mothers and their babies; in India, amaranth is eaten with boiled rice and made into a dessert called laddoos; the greens are eaten in salads and soups in Vietnam; and in Mexico, amaranth flour is used to make tlayudas, while the popped seeds are used to make sweets called alegrias that date back to the Aztecs. Today, amaranth is not only being reclaimed by Indigenous cultures, but it also being widely embraced in many countries around the world, including the United States. The crop is notably also associated with sustainable agriculture.