“We at Slow Beans defend, maintain and spread leguminious biodiversity: We are aware of its intrinsic value, and bear witness to the inherent pleasure of varied tastes and different gastronomic cultures that revolve around local legumes. We cultivate relationships and knowledge! We cultivate relationships and knowledge, not simple plant […]
Click here to view original web page at www.slowfood.com
“We at Slow Beans defend, maintain and spread leguminious biodiversity: We are aware of its intrinsic value, and bear witness to the inherent pleasure of varied tastes and different gastronomic cultures that revolve around local legumes. We cultivate relationships and knowledge! We cultivate relationships and knowledge, not simple plant proteins for use as ingredients in highly processed foods completely detached from their original flavors.”
The network
Slow Beans is a network of Italian producers, cooks and activists united around the theme of beans. Members of Slow Food, they identify with a Manifesto of values and intent. The network first gathered in 2010 in Capannori, in the Tuscan province of Lucca, when the local convivium held the Fagioliadi, a competition of legume-based dishes. The network has grown over the last decade, spreading around Italy, and it is now ready to become international.
The Slow Beans network works to safeguard legumes and increase their consumption, first by growing them, and then by organizing various initiatives, such as promotional events (like the annual Slow Beans gathering) and campaigns (like the recent Let It Bean!, aimed at local mayors in partnership with organizations, as Meatless Monday).
Why beans?
- Because legumes, dismissed during the decades of economic boom as food for the poor, are now being recognized as an essential staple in a diet that helps us live long and healthy lives: Rich in antioxidants and fibre and low in cholesterol, they help to prevent heart disease and diabetes.
- Because a legume-rich diet is good for the environment; legumes require fewer inputs and enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen.
The Event
Slow Beans is a traveling event where visitors can get to know producers who grow legumes all over Italy and beyond. Much more than a market, producers share their spirit of conviviality, the flavors they cultivate, the biodiversity they preserve and their knowledge “from earth to table,” offering tastings of their beans.
After the first edition in 2010, the event grew richer every year, with more visitors and a more extensive program, until eventually it moved to Lucca. Since then, Slow Beans has evolved further, becoming an even greater opportunity for meeting and exchange between what are known as Leguminous Communities.
Since 2015, Slow Beans has grown from event to network, Key events, like the Earth and Biodiversity Market, held each year in San Giorgio Canavese, serve as a pivotal gathering for commerce and community.
The next event will be in and around Capannori on December 4 and 5, 2021.
The Let It Bean! campaign
Let it Bean! is a collaboration between Slow Beans, Slow Food, Meatless Monday, and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in the United States (CLF). The CLF has accrued compelling evidence for the nutritional and environmental benefits of legumes. (See the Beans Resource Center).
The collaboration was launched during Terra Madre 2020.
The initiative’s main objective is to promote the consumption of legumes as a climate-friendly food, in collaboration with municipal authorities.
Specifically, the campaign wants to:
- incentivize municipalities to promote more sustainable and climate-friendly diets through the support of local bean producers.
- increase the general public’s knowledge about beans, their nutritional properties and recipes through collaboration with producers and cooks in order to promote a behavior change towards diets that relies more on plant-based food
- raise awareness about the Slow Beans network around the world together with the Meatless Monday initiative.
Who can join Let it Bean?
All municipalities interested in taking an important step towards a more climate-friendly diet by promoting the consumption of legumes.
We invite farmers, cooks, enthusiastic activists and conscious consumers to join us and convince their local municipality to sign up to Let It Bean! and take concrete action.
See the menu below!
How can I take part?
Let us know that you’re interested and want to stay updated by filling out a short form https://bit.ly/3lO3JC0
Want to take immediate action?
Write to your local mayor’s office, asking them to join the initiative, by using this template [LINK FORM]
Remember to cc slowbeans@slowfood.it so that we can give you all the support you need to run leguminous activities in your hometown!
