Forty Pounds of Fresh Spinach

Have you ever contemplated how many spinach leaves there are in 40 pounds of fresh spinach? I hadn’t. At least, not until I was given the task of stemming 40 pounds of fresh spinach.

If you didn’t already know, spinach isn’t very dense–a small weight fills a very large container. We had four cases, each with four 2.5 lb bags inside, to stem. We chose the largest tabletop mixing bowl and got to work. We filled that with half a case. We started on another. Then we realized that at this rate, we would require 8 large mixing bowls to complete the task. We pulled out the big guns. We drew out the freestanding “Big Bertha” mixing bowl and set it beside the table we were working at. I’m not sure how many times we filled that, because the cook’s kept coming in and taking a small (big) mixing bowl full of spinach from it to cook off immediately.

I didn’t count how many leaves there were in 40 lbs, but I do know that it took two people at least 4 hours and 45 minutes to complete the task. That’s 9 1/2 man-hours. That’s a LONG time. But in some ways, it was a wonderful time. After the first hour, I asked permission and permission was granted me to drag a stool up to the prep table. So I sat and stemmed spinach. It reminded me of my growing up years, sitting around the kitchen table with all the kids, stemming beans Mom had just picked. It wasn’t that bad, although it was a long time and a little monotonous.

What made it all okay though, was the company. One of our custodians offered to help me when the other cook had to go off to do his thing. I didn’t know Lien that well before we started stemming spinach together, but now I feel as if I know her well.

I learned that Lien and her family escaped from Vietnam in the 1970’s when the Communists were attempting to forcibly conscript her into their army. They escaped on a boat–and were lucky to be picked up by an American boat. Lien said that others were picked up by other boats–and that men did awful things to the women they picked up.

Lien was 19 when she arrived in the US, but instead of going to school, she went out and got a job. She was the oldest daughter of 9 children, and they needed something on which to live. Her mother stayed at home with the children. Her father had a job that paid $2.75 an hour. Lien worked from 9 in the morning until 11 at night seven days a week to support her family.

Lien learned English by talking to her coworkers, and continues to improve her English by listening carefully to how we pronounce words and structure our sentences. She is glad to have a good job at the University, where she usually works only 40 hours a week–and where she receives vacation time. She loves that she now has the opportunity to spend time with her 7 year old daughter.

I’m glad there are so many leaves in 40 lbs of spinach–otherwise I might not have had an opportunity to really know this remarkable woman.