
Slow Beans
For good, clean and fair legumes and pulses
The Slow Beans Network promotes the cultivation and consumption of legumes and pulses by encouraging farmers to grow good, clean, and fair legumes and inspire people to enjoy them.
Our network aims to improve both human and soil health while reducing the environmental impact of our food systems.
The Slow Beans Network is anarchic, guided by relationships and affection.
Our Manifesto
We stand for
Agroecological Transition We strive for a food system rooted in the principles of agroecology, with legumes and pulses playing a central role. We are committed to implementing these principles, promoting their adoption, and supporting those who have yet to embrace them.
Biodiversity We are dedicated to preserving and promoting legume and pulse seeds and plants, safeguarding them from extinction.
Solidarity Relationships, knowledge exchange, and solidarity guide our actions, whether in collaboration with other farmers of legumes and pulses, producers, public institutions, or private actors in the food chain.
Ethics and Responsibility We operate with great respect for environmental factors and socio-cultural dynamics within the regions of the network.
Food Accessibility We work to ensure that everyone has access to nutritious and tasty food, with legumes and pulses as essential staples.
Inspiration Curiosity guides our actions, inspiring us to explore and learn abo ut different cultures and communities, leading to new ideas and innovations for cultivating and consuming pulses and legumes.
Education We share knowledge about the environmental and local cultural importance of growing and consuming legumes and pulses—always highlighting the health and environmental benefits and the diversity of legumes.
Passion for pulses We make consuming good, clean, and fair legumes and pulses more accessible to home cooks through conviviality, and by sharing inspiration, tasty meals and delicious recipes.
Join Slow Beans
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The Network
Slow Beans is a thematic network of producers, cooks and activists who come together to channel their passion into the promotion of pulses and legumes.
The network was formed in 2010, when the local convivium of Capannori, in the Italian region of Tuscany, held a competition of legume-based dishes called the Fagioliadi. The burgeoning network has since spread throughout Italy, and is now ready to expand internationally.
Slow Beans exists to safeguard legumes and increase their consumption through a range of initiatives. These include supporting the Presidia involved in growing them and organizing events like the annual Slow Beans gathering and campaigns like the recent Let It Bean!, aimed at local mayors in partnership with organizations such as Meatless Monday.
As members of Slow Food, those within the network adhere to a manifesto of values and intent.
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Why Beans?
- Because despite being dismissed as poor food during the decades of economic boom, beans (and almost all legumes) are now being recognized as an essential staple in our diets. They are rich in antioxidants and fiber and low in cholesterol, preventing our risk of heart disease and diabetes and helping us all live long and healthy lives.
- Because the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) acknowledges pulses and legumes as crucial for food security, as they are an affordable source of proteins and micronutrients and they can be stored for a long period.
- Because a legume-rich diet is good for the environment. Legumes require fewer inputs and enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen. Their cultivation also leaves less of an impact than animal proteins as it involves fewer greenhouse gas emissions and a reduced water footprint.
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What We Do
Cultivate Biodiversity through Presidia and Ark of Taste
Slow Food has more than 50 Presidia dedicated to the preservation of legumes around the world, and has onboarded more than 300 endangered varieties onto its Ark of Taste. Do you have a local variety of pulse or legume in need of protection?
Learn morePromote Local Campaigns
Each year, Slow Food USA celebrates biodiversity on farms, in gardens, and in schools through its Plant a Seed campaign. The campaign takes on a different climate and nutrition-related theme each year, and in 2023, it brings together a cast of rare and biodiverse seeds that tell a story — and celebrate glorious greens!
Learn moreSupport Projects in School Canteens
Slow Food has partnered with FoodInsider to show how we can make school canteens healthier and more sustainable, creating a circular economy that is positively reflected on citizens and territory.
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What You Can Do
Participate in the Let It Bean Campaign
Let it Bean is a joint initiative between Slow Food, Meatless Mondays and the John Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future. Launched in 2020, it promotes the consumption of legumes as a climate-friendly food choice. All are invited to take part, from individuals to companies and institutions.
Bean the ChangeJoin Slow Beans Events
Designed to give a platform to Presidia producers, these events bring consumers the best of Slow Beans through tastings, presentations and interactive exchanges.
Learn more