This is what researchers from Crea revealed when, on the occasion of World Pulses Day, they explained why (and how) we should consume more of them. This is what researchers from Crea revealed when, on the occasion of World Pulses Day, they explained why (and how) we should consume more of them.
Every year on 10 February, the FAO celebrates World Pulses Day, an initiative born from the success of the International Year of Pulses in 2016 and aimed at highlighting the high nutritional value of pulses and their contribution to the sustainability of agri-food systems. Despite their recognised and fundamental role in a healthy diet and a healthy planet — two concepts that are inseparable — pulses are not consumed as they should be, at least in Italy.
"We eat less than one serving of pulses a week, whereas we should be eating at least three. Children are the segment of the population that eats the least of them, while older people consume the most — perhaps because they haven't forgotten the foundations of the Mediterranean diet," explained Andrea Ghiselli, research director at Crea Alimenti e nutrizione, during a live session organised by some researchers from Crea on the Facebook page @Sapermangiare.mobi. "We are a country where almost every city and every village has its own variety of pulses and a dedicated recipe — a testament to the importance this food held in the past, whereas today we pay little attention to it. And yet they are vegetables rich in fibre, iron and starch: on their own they make a full meal, and when combined with carbohydrates they increase their bioavailability. They are plant proteins that we should favour over animal ones, thereby reducing our meat consumption, which today is far too bold and generous."
The picture is no different when it comes to collective catering (workplace, hospital and school canteens). "Collective catering follows the Guidelines for Healthy Eating and therefore includes pulses on its menus in the form of soups or side dishes," explains Umberto Scognamiglio, nutritionist at Crea. "The critical issue is that we don't know whether what's on offer actually translates into consumption by canteen users. And if we cross-reference this with the amount of food wasted — which consists mainly of first courses and side dishes — we can deduce that beans, chickpeas and lentils are not being eaten in sufficient quantities. What is needed, then, are proposals to gain certainty about consumption levels and to reduce food waste."
"Perhaps we eat few pulses because we don't like them all that much," suggests Ghiselli. So how can we encourage ourselves, and above all encourage children, to eat them? Experimenting with unusual and tempting recipes that combine pulses with carbohydrates and vegetables, or using pulse flours to make muffins or crêpes, for instance, could be one idea. In schools, the route is food education — a cross-curricular topic that can be addressed in every subject. "You can talk about pulses in a geography lesson, discovering where different varieties come from, or in a maths lesson, exploring their shapes and the quantities we should eat," explains Sibilla Berni Canani, researcher at Crea. "You need to work up to tasting by starting from what children already know and getting them to use all five senses. Let them shell the pulses, show them what happens during soaking, invite them to cook with us: only after tasting will children be able to say they don't like them — but always with an explanation of why (the texture? the flavour?)."
Beneficial for human health, pulses are a global food that, combined with whole grains, can replace meat while also helping to reduce environmental impact. "By reducing our consumption of meat and animal-based foods in favour of pulses, fruit and vegetables," declared Laura Rossi of Crea, "we could maintain nutritional balance while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by half." As the Italian Slow Beans network of Terra Madre – Slow Food also highlighted during World Pulses Day, pulse production helps to maintain soil fertility thanks to these plants' ability to fix nitrogen. Indeed, one of the network's projects, the series Let it bean!, sets out to rediscover traditional pulse varieties, their properties and their culinary uses, with the aim of further promoting consumption of a food that plays a fundamental role in achieving the UN Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals.