Beans beans, the wonderful fruit - celebrating World Pulse Day in Brighton

Butternut squash stuffed with pulses, cooked at the BHFP Community Kitchen

It’s World Pulse Day on the February 10, and the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership explains why pulses are a plant worth celebrating.

Forget Valentine’s Day! The Brighton & Hove Food Partnership is falling head over heels in love for beans and pulses instead, as part of the global World Pulse Day celebrations on February 10. Designated a global event by the United Nations in 2019, World Pulse Day exists to recognise the important role that pulses can play in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals, which include eradicating world poverty and ensuring the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources.

Below they explain how pulses can play a role in erasing poverty and saving the planet, how you can start incorporating them more into your eating habits, and where you can find out more info about the humble pulse.

Health:

Eating pulses (the umbrella term for beans, peas, and pulses) counts as one of your 5-a-day and they are full of vitamins and minerals such as iron and protein. They’re also very high-fibre foods, meaning they a very filling, offering an inexpensive way to eat nutritionally. They are gluten–free, making them suitable for Coeliacs, and are suitable for plant-based diets too. As foods high in iron, they complement plant-based diets well.

Price:

Pulses are one of the cheapest and most accessible sources of protein and fibre in the world, which is why they make up 75% of the average diet in developing countries[2]. 100g of tinned chickpeas costs around 21p per 100g, whilst dried chickpeas cost around 16p per 100g.

Environment:

Pulses are one of the most sustainable crops grown, because they use much less water than other plants. It takes 43 gallons of water to produce one pound of pulses, compared with 368 gallons of water to produce the same amount of peanuts. It takes a whopping 800 – 1800 gallons of water to produce 1lb of meat! Moreover, pulses actually improve soil quality, by adding nitrogen to the soil – an element that is crucial for sustaining soil health. They can be grown in the UK, too – broad beans are native to the UK. All this means that pulses have one of the lowest carbon footprints of any food group.

Want to join the World Pulse Day celebrations? Then share a picture of your favourite pulse, or meal with pulses, on your social media channels, tagging @btnhovefood and using the hashtag #keenforbeans. For inspiration for your recipe, or to find out more about pulses and how to cook them, then visit the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership website bhfood.org.uk/keen-for-beans/

The Brighton & Hove Food Partnership is an independent, politically-neutral, and not-for-profit organisation formed by local residents in 2003. We aim to transform our city’s food system to provide healthy, sustainable, and fair food for all, and use food as a tool to improve lives across Brighton & Hove.