With the beginning of a brand new year, Chef Seeto discovers that promoting a nutritious ancient food is at the top of the United Nations’ agenda to reduce world hunger, fight disease and create cheap, sustainable agriculture in developing countries. In this new series, readers learn the humble bean, pea and lentil is about to take the global centre stage. Welcome to the International Year of Pulses.
Happy new year and welcome to a brand new year dedicated to one of the most underrated and unappreciated food groups; pulses.
What are pulses?
You probably eat them nearly every day if you are of Indian or Chinese decent, but only occasionally if your lineage is iTaukei. There are hundreds of varieties of pulses grown throughout the world but the popular ones include all varieties of dried beans, such as kidney beans, lima beans, butter beans and broad beans. There are also chickpeas, cowpeas, black-eyed peas and blue peas. But pulses are not just beans and peas as they also include lentils which are used in many cultural signature dishes like Indian dhal and sambar, Moroccan harira and Greek falafel.
So why has the humble pulse been pushed into the limelight in 2016? Just as 2015 was the International Year of Soil and 2013 was the Year of of the gluten free grain called quinoa (kin-wah), the United Nations dedicates an entire calendar year to focus on particular topics or themes to highlight change for the betterment of humankind. By highlighting pulses this year, the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon believes pulses contribute significantly in addressing hunger, food security, malnutrition, environmental challenges and human health.
Why are pulses so
important to our diet?
Pulses are an important plant-based protein that contain medicines to prevent disease. Beans, peas, and lentils have been consumed for at least 10,000 years and are among the most extensively used foods in the world. Pulses provide protein and fibre, as well as a significant source of vitamins and minerals, such as iron, zinc, folate, and magnesium, and consuming half a cup of beans or peas per day can enhance diet quality by increasing intakes of these nutrients which come from the soil.
In addition, the phytochemicals (plant medicine) in pulses possess antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic effects, giving pulses significant anti-cancer properties. Pulse consumption also helps improves cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation.
Pulses are high in fibre and have a low glycemic index, making them particularly beneficial to people with diabetes by assisting in maintaining healthy blood glucose and insulin levels.
Although not a traditional part of the South Pacific diet, pulses are cheap and offer the perfect protein source for a vegetarian diet. Go down to any local market and you’ll see fresh beans and peas from local vendors, as well as a myriad of coloured dried lentils and legumes from giant sacks.
You can eat them raw, cook them whole or grind them down to a coarse or fine flour as an alternative to modified wheat. They are perfect for anyone with a gluten intolerance or Coeliac Disease.
UN says eat and
plant more pulses
While most of Western civilisation has moved to a meat-based diet, we’ve forgotten that this vegetarian protein is not only cheap and delicious; pulses are also a highly nutritious source of protein and vital micronutrients. Under the slogan ‘nutritious seeds for a sustainable future,’ the United Nations, led by its Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has launched the 2016 International Year of Pulses to raise awareness about the protein power and health benefits of all kinds of dried beans and peas.
FAO director-general José Graziano da Silva says: “They have been an essential part of the human diet for centuries, yet, their nutritional value is not generally recognised and is frequently under-appreciated.”
The FAO also added that as an affordable alternative to more expensive animal-based protein, pulses are ideal for improving diets in poorer parts of the world, where protein sources from milk is often five time more expensive than protein sourced from pulses. Pulses also offer a great potential to lift farmers out of rural poverty, as they can yield two to three time higher prices than wheat and rice.
“The International Year (of Pulses) 2016 is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the benefits of pulses as the world embarks on efforts to achieve the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals,” said the UN secretary-general. Growing more beans, lentils and peas is also less harmful to the planet as they foster sustainable agriculture and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as promoting biodiversity, he says.
Pulses to fight NCDs
So how does the International Year of Pulses affect everyday Fijians? Put simply, it is another ancient medicine food that can be used in the battle to reduce NCDs, as well as giving our farmers a cash crop with faster returns than traditional dalo and sugar cane.
Farmers, it’s no secret that much of the South Pacific’s ailments of NCDs have been caused by the drastic change in diet and lifestyle. The government knows it. Doctors know it. Nutritional chefs know it. Many are overeating the foods with little or no nutritional value like fizzy drinks, fried chicken, hot and packet chips, and instant noodles. Cheap fatty foods like mutton flaps, lamb curry pieces, tinned meats and excess margarine are now a part of the Pacific Islander diet, and made worse by the oily, sweet and salty foods that many people keep feeding their body.
Many Fijians have forgotten the lessons of their ancestors and are now eating for taste, volume and convenience, rather than taste, sustenance and nutrition. It’s time to rethink how we choose the foods to eat.
Ban Ki-moon explains: “Despite strong evidence of the health and nutritional benefits, their consumption of pulses remains low in many developing and developed countries. The International Year of Pulses can help overcome this lack of knowledge.”
So when was the last time you had a bowl of beans, peas or lentils?
* Lance Seeto is a multi award winning chef, Fiji Airways’ culinary ambassador, host of Fiji TV’s Taste of Paradise and the UN’s IFAD recipes for change chef.