Slow Food marks World Pulses Day 2025 with a new manifesto that unites the Slow Beans network and international initiatives

The Slow Beans Network Manifesto

The Slow Beans Network Manifesto addresses producers, cooks, consumers, and municipalities who recognize the importance of pulses. Each group plays a key role in their preservation, utilization in recipes, awareness-raising, educational initiatives, and the development of local policies. “Legumes have spread around the world, so to bring them back to the stage we need to work together internationally. There‘s so much to learn and with the Slow Beans network expanding we can support each other in our local missions. Sometimes what seems impossible locally, for someone else in the world is normal- so it can be eye opening to exchange” says Elisabeth Berlinghof, Slow Beans activists from Germany.

The network

Beans hold a distinguished place in the Slow Food international network, with over 325 products listed in the Ark of Taste—the world’s most extensive catalog of food and agricultural biodiversity. Additionally, more than 50 Presidia projects support small-scale food producers in safeguarding traditional and artisanal products at risk of disappearing.

Around the world, numerous initiatives highlight the importance of legumes. Slow Food Italy, in collaboration with its youth network, SFYN Italy, has relaunched the initiative “Aggiungi un legume a tavola” (Add a Legume to the Table). This campaign invites members of the Italian Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance to feature at least one pulse-based dish on their menus. In the previous edition, over 160 chefs across Italy participated in this effort. 

Events around the world

“For the producers of the Slow Beans Network, February 10th is yet another opportunity to engage the communities in their territories in developing a culture of legumes and overcoming the resistance that hinders their use in cooking. By involving chefs, school canteens, and organizing events in the regions, we are confident we can make a small contribution to raising awareness of these important food”, comments Marco del Comune, representative of the Italian Slow Beans Network. From Slow Beans Turkey, Tülay Saygili echoes him: “Pulses are a highly nutritious food group that enhance soil microbiome health and boast the greatest biodiversity potential in the world. To give pulses the recognition they deserve, it is crucial for farmers, chefs, and consumers to collaborate harmoniously. Every seed grown with the principles of good, clean, and fair food, every recipe crafted by our chefs, and every effort to raise consumer awareness contribute to preserving biodiversity and advancing agroecological farming globally. Why not plant a bean seed this year to help secure the future of our planet?”

The Slow Food Network keeps partnering with Meatless Monday after years of successful campaigns together. Industrial meat production and consumption are increasingly unsustainable for the climate, for our health, and for those animals whose welfare is being sacrificed to enable today’s low-price consumption. Bringing back legumes in our diet can make a difference for our health and our planet. 

Established by the FAO to highlight the potential of pulses in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, World Pulses Day serves as a crucial opportunity to raise public awareness. Pulses play a fundamental role in transitioning to more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems—supporting better production, nutrition, environmental sustainability, and quality of life, ensuring that no one is left behind.

Find out more! https://www.slowfood.com/thematic-network/slow-beans/ 

Picture credit: Stefano Sanson