Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

These lines seem appropriate when we consider the footprints left by Hernando Cortez when he visited the New World and tried to remake it in the image of the old.

Amaranth has been a symbol of immortality since the time of the ancient Greeks. For the Inca and the Aztecs in Pre-Columbian times it was an important food source and a symbol of the earth’s generosity. Amaranthus hypochondriacus is a grain amaranth that grows tall and has brilliant red, purple and yellow seed heads. It was worshipped as a gift from the gods and provided a flamboyant display, especially in the chinampas, the floating gardens of Mexico. Both the Aztecs and the Incas paid homage to this plant with elaborate harvest celebrations. Amaranth was the first food plant to arrive in the Spring.

Cortez came to the city now known as Veracruz in the spring of 1519. He and his men watched an Aztecs ceremony where the amaranth seed was finely chopped, then combined with beeswax and molded into the shape of a human figure. Aztecs, who practiced human sacrifice, added blood to the wafer. The dried wafer was later broken into small pieces and distributed to the worshipers. The Spaniards considered the ceremony a demonic version of the Catholic Eucharist, and Cortez, who was determined to expunge every sign of pre-Columbian religion, halted the ritual, ordered the destruction of all idols and shrines, and commanded that the entire amaranth crop be destroyed. Those who disobeyed these orders were whipped into submission. Grain amaranth was seemingly banished forever.

Quechuan farmers in the Andes secretly planted amaranth in hidden fields, but for hundreds of years the disappearance of Amaranthus hypochondriacus remained a mystery. About 25 years ago, John Robinson, a University of Michigan nutritionist, alarmed by the shrinking diversity of the modern diet, embarked on a study of pre-historic foods. He went to Cuzco in Peru, the former capital of the Inca empire, to study the pre-Columbian diet. Quechuan farmers were reluctant to divulge their secrets, but the persistent researcher found a farmer who took him to a plot where he found amaranth growing eight feet tall, with magnificent seed heads and large, edible leaves. It proved to be one of the most promising food plants in his entire search. He went to major food companies and urged them to promote amaranth, but they were not looking for grains that might compete with their existing products.

Robert Rodale and his father J. I. Rodale were among the few advocates of alternative agriculture, and their Rodale Research Center carried out extensive testing on amaranth. They generated a good deal of public attention and promoted a variety of amaranth products that are now sold mostly in health food markets.

In China, India, Africa and Europe grain amaranth was a traditional food source, used primarily as a supplement to rice. In recent years its production has expanded and it is now used as a protein supplement for infants and children. Popped amaranth is a popular confection in India and has caught on in South America.

In a world where hunger is still a stark reality, grain amaranth is a plant with a huge promise.