DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jay Lee and about a dozen other Hmong farmers living in central Iowa are asking for permission to grow water spinach, a staple among many Asian populations that is considered a noxious weed in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture generally bans Americans from growing or possessing the vegetable because it can create a quick-growing mat on lakes that kills or crowds out native species. It's illegal in Iowa now.
A USDA official from Nebraska discovered several Des Moines-area farmers with the plant last year. That has set off a lobbying effort for Iowa to allow the spinach, which tastes like the common varieties sold in the United States.
"Lots of Asians love this food dearly, so we wish to grow this," Lee said.
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