I am a bean seed collector. For me, collecting bean and legume seeds is primarily about preserving the diversity and availability of these vegetable crops. The second goal is to give the opportunity to grow beans to those who want to grow them, but cannot afford to buy rare bean seeds. That is why I not only sell, but also give seeds to those who need them. As of 2024, I have about 500 varieties of beans and legumes in my collection, and their number is constantly growing. And finally, the third task is to popularize legumes among the world population.
There are about 20 people in my team, the same collectors as me in Russia.
Global Bean projects we are involved in:
500 varieties of beans and other legumes, for exchange and purchase. I also send gifts of bean and legume seeds, giving everyone the opportunity to grow beans and have food security.
I also share my experience of growing beans and other legumes on my YouTube channel and personally, which can help beginning gardeners.
Opportunity to exchange and purchase bean and legume seeds from around the world, as well as partner support in delivering seeds to people who need and need them.
I dream that as many people as possible learn about the huge variety of beans and legumes, that this is a useful crop not only as food for humans, but also useful for soil fertility
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
World Pulses Day is a global event celebrated on the 10th of February to recognise the importance of pulses as a world food. On this occasion, we asked you about your own personal stories with pulses: What’s your favourite pulse-based dish? Who made it for you? (Grandparents/Friends/Flatmate, etc.) Where and when did you eat it
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
Please introduce yourself and tell us about how your work relates to legumes. How did you first fall in love with legumes? Hello everyone, my name is Chelsea Didinger. I just completed my PhD in Nutrition, and my research was on beans and other pulses. I chose to focus on beans/pulses because I truly believe
Please introduce yourself and tell us about how your work relates to legumes. How did you first fall in love with legumes? The legume team at the Vietnam National Plant Genebank (Plant Resources Centre) includes: 1. Mr. Nguyen Van Kien, principal investigator 2. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, curator of legume seeds 3. Ms. Nguyen Thi
Please introduce yourself and tell us about how your work relates to legumes. How did you first fall in love with legumes? Hi, my name is Nitya and I’m a New Zealander living in Valencia, Spain. Together with my husband, we have a small farm where, among other things, we grow many kinds of beans.
Back in June, Lisa from The Global Bean Project headed to Smilyan in southern Bulgaria to attend a Slow Beans network meeting hosted by Rhodopi-Smilyan Beans Convivium. The village of Smilyan is nestled deep in the Rhodope Mountains close to the Greek border. 820-850 meters above sea level and bisected by the swift-flowing Arda River,
Please introduce yourself and tell us about how your work relates to legumes. How did you first fall in love with legumes? My name is Lena, I’m from Switzerland, and although I come from a completely different field (law!), I started giving baking and cooking classes for legumes a few years ago because I am
What is your name? Can you briefly explain what your organisation does and your role? My name is Lucas Mourão and I’m the coordinator of Slow Food’s local community in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We are involved in the promotion of local socio-biodiversity, especially of Cerrado* fruits, through events and educational workshops. *The Cerrado is a
“The only real food we can eat is food from farms.” That was the message from Vandana Shiva as she addressed the crowd at Berlin’s Weltacker 2000m², a plot in the Pankow district set up to highlight the agricultural means needed to feed the world’s population. For decades, Shiva has been advocating for biodiversity, the
My name is Mara Welton, I am the Director of Programs for Slow Food USA, and my job is to oversee all of the programming across the nation. We are a national office under the whole Slow Food International umbrella.
I have been running an organic farm for many decades. For a long time we grew vegetables, including peas, beans and soybeans, for direct sale. We gave up direct sales in 2018 in favour of the World Farming Project. Since then, the Weltacker Attiswil has been a guest on our farm.
As part of the 8th ‘Behind the Seeds’ interviews at Terra Madre, Slow Food’s convention in Turin last September, we interviewed Lucas Mourão from Belo Horizonte in Brazil. Lucas is the coordinator of Slow Food local community in his city, and works for Jaca Verde PANC, where he gives courses, guided tours, landscaping and consultancy on non-conventional food plants. Lucas is always looking for people that work with biodiversity!
2022 was a year with a strong focus on legumes for the Global Field Attiswil in Switzerland, and it shows! We can only applaud the team for their creativity in bringing this information to visitors of their Global Field.
As part of the 7th ‘Behind the Seeds’ interview at Terra Madre, Slow Food’s convention in Turin last September, we interviewed Simone Nabil, who is originally from Egypt but lives in France. In Egypt, Simone explains that they eat a lot of beans, and that they are an important part of the country’s traditional food.
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