Global Bean projects we are involved in:
Legumes are grown and eaten in nearly every country and culture around the world. Most regions and cultures have developed unique traditional methods for cooking and preparing dishes with pulses. The following provides a select insight into some of these enduring traditional practices, which continue to be employed today and have also been adopted in other parts of the world.
Cowpeas were domesticated in Africa. They spread into Asia and Europe and were grown very long before Phaseolus beans came from America and replaced most European cultivation of Vigna beans. Cowpeas are largely cultivated in semiarid regions of Africa and Asia and are the main pulse species in several Western African countries which have the highest per capita pulse consumption in the world.
We invite you to discover traditions and customs related to pulses in Italy, USA, Korea, and Nigeria. What most customs across these four continents have in common is that beans symbolise good luck and prosperity.
Legumes have enormous potential in this area thanks to unique characteristics including their ability to perform nitrogen fixation and high protein content. They can also help to improve soil fertility and biodiversity, reduce the use of environmentally damaging fertilisers, and provide humans with a more sustainable source of protein as opposed to animal products.
Peas are one of the oldest cultivated crops. The wild plant is native to the Near Eastern centre of crop diversity. Domestication of wild pea plants probably began with the start of agriculture in the fertile crescent about 11,000 years ago, where they were likely companion plants to early-domesticated forms of wheat and barley
Dani is a Spanish farmer, with a 40-acre chickpea production farm in María. Legume cultivation in this region of the North of the Almería has its challenges, due to the dry and extreme climate.
Seed savers Network(SSN) is a national membership based farmers organization. SSN works at grassroots level with a mission to conserve agrobiodiversity by strengthening communities seed systems for improved food and nutritional security
The LTZ is the state institute for agriculture in Baden-Württemberg. In 2012, the state government of Baden-Württemberg started its protein initiative (Eiweißinitiative), in which LTZ is responsible for grain legumes. Therefore, various trials - on beans, chickpeas, and peanuts - are underway in LTZ’s trial fields.
Nikos Dompazis cultivates traditional varieties of vegetables and legumes in Northern Greece (Komotini) in a garden of approx. 700 m2, since 1996.
The community garden project at the Ecological Education Center as part of Global Bean Project. We are a volunteer group within the community garden project at the Ecological Education Center (ÖBZ) in Munich and collect varieties of beans that are no longer in commercial use. We are enthusiastic about the diversity and the aesthetics of beans, of course also about the culinary enjoyment and their ecological value.
Fermentation is one of the oldest and most straightforward methods of food preparation. Enzymes produced by microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts, and mold, have long been used by humans to produce food that is both delicious and nutritious. Commonly eaten foods produced through fermentation include bread, dairy products, sauerkraut, and kimchi. In this online event, we
Legumes can play a significant role in the context of the climate crisis due to their unique characteristics including nitrogen-fixing root nodules and high levels of protein. In this event, we learnt more about this fascinating topic. Take a look at the recording and find out about some of the ways in which legumes can
Curious about the diversity of legumes and how they are produced? Watch the recording of our “Live in the show gardens” meeting and discover legume gardens throughout Europe and beyond! The Global Bean Show Gardens are a diverse network of demonstration gardens, production farms, breeding stations, and experimental farms. This interactive online event took us
This online cooking event explored the secrets of cooking with pulses with Chef Ben Perry showing us how to make two dishes. Maultaschen, sometimes referred to as Swabian ravioli, is a dish that is said to have been first created by Cistercian monks in the south of Germany. The filling for our version was a
This year, our Global Bean seed festival was extra special. On 22nd April, Global Bean partners across Europe and beyond came together to celebrate the diversity of beans and exchange legume seeds. Seed festivals took place in Greece, Albania, Germany, Ethiopia, Kenya, Switzerland, France, Austria, and Spain. Bean mandala picture credit: Biodiversidad Alimentaria. Contains traditional
During its two fruitful first years, The Global Bean Project has been funded by the German environment ministry (BMUV) and we were able to carry out a variety of activities with a central coordination amongst a growing global network of experts and enthusiasts. The network now counts above 100 partners from 37 countries. From now
The community garden project at the Ecological Education Center as part of Global Bean Project. We are a volunteer group within the community garden project at the Ecological Education Center (ÖBZ) in Munich and collect varieties of beans that are no longer in commercial use. We are enthusiastic about the diversity and the aesthetics of beans, of course also about the culinary enjoyment and their ecological value.
The community garden project at the Ecological Education Center as part of Global Bean Project. We are a volunteer group within the community garden project at the Ecological Education Center (ÖBZ) in Munich and collect varieties of beans that are no longer in commercial use. We are enthusiastic about the diversity and the aesthetics of beans, of course also about the culinary enjoyment and their ecological value.
The community garden project at the Ecological Education Center as part of Global Bean Project. We are a volunteer group within the community garden project at the Ecological Education Center (ÖBZ) in Munich and collect varieties of beans that are no longer in commercial use. We are enthusiastic about the diversity and the aesthetics of beans, of course also about the culinary enjoyment and their ecological value.
The community garden project at the Ecological Education Center as part of Global Bean Project. We are a volunteer group within the community garden project at the Ecological Education Center (ÖBZ) in Munich and collect varieties of beans that are no longer in commercial use. We are enthusiastic about the diversity and the aesthetics of beans, of course also about the culinary enjoyment and their ecological value.
The community garden project at the Ecological Education Center as part of Global Bean Project. We are a volunteer group within the community garden project at the Ecological Education Center (ÖBZ) in Munich and collect varieties of beans that are no longer in commercial use. We are enthusiastic about the diversity and the aesthetics of beans, of course also about the culinary enjoyment and their ecological value.
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