HIS BLOOD IS GREEN
Roberta Thatcher speaks to Lufefe Nomjana, aka the Spinach King
Khayelitsha’s Spinach King is making the world a healthier place
Why are you called the Spinach King? I travel through the townships promoting spinach. The local community ordained me as the Spinach King of Khayelitsha when I invented a bread made with spinach. We sold this home-made bread door-to-door, then we used spare facilities at a Spar bakery, and started crowd-funding to raise money for delivery bicycles. In 2014 we won an SAB competition which gave us enough funds to buy a container and convert it into an express bakery. I also had the good fortune to meet the CEO of Virgin Active, who pledged 60% of the investment for our second branch. We now have two café bakeries in Khayelitsha and a proper factory for the Western Cape area in Stellenbosch. Last year, when I was fortunate enough to travel to the Slow Food conference in Milan, I became known as the Spinach King of South Africa.
Why spinach? In 2011, after starting two businesses which failed, I decided I wanted to focus on doing something for my community. I went to a community garden that was run by elderly women between the ages of 60 and 80, who couldn’t handle everything. I volunteered for four months. This is where I fell in love with spinach. It is miraculous: unlike other green vegetables, you can plant it today and have something to eat in three or four weeks. Many people grew up eating spinach, but it’s been somewhat abandoned. I did some research and found that it has tremendous benefits which help prevent lifestyle diseases, and is high in vitamins K, C and A. Not even broccoli or kale contain Vitamin A, which prevents malnutrition. The quick-growing time of spinach also makes it a great alternative to these other highly proclaimed superfoods.
What are some of your spinachbased products? Organic low-GI spinach bread; organic gluten-free spinach bread made with tapioca and sorghum flour; spinach and feta muffins with cayenne pepper; onion and cheese muffins with garlic and herbs; spinach rusks and biscotti. We are launching no-carb pasta and we also do spinach juices and smoothies at our cafés.
How important is driving
healthier eating? Very important. I grew up not understanding what healthy eating is. When you don’t know and you end up suffering with a lifestyle disease, you can’t say you had much choice in the matter. It is unfair to expect that you would have eaten any differently, if you were not educated about nutrition. If you
have education, you are knowledgeable and you can make the right choices for your health. Where can people buy your
products? Various Spars around Cape Town, as well as several hotels (including the Table Bay Hotel) and, of course, our cafés.