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On the social media site Reddit, Chef Gordon Ramsay held an “AMA”, or Ask Me Anything, in which any user can ask questions. One user asked “Do you have any food recommendations for a college student on a budget?” Chef Ramsay responded “I would recommend that you get adventurous with pulses - chickpeas, beans, lentils. And you know, cooking these is incredible.” He also added “You don't need expensive proteins.” This sparked a conversation about the benefits of Mexican and Indian cuisine - Food rich in nutritional value and flavour available for low cost.
You can view the entire AMA here.
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The race is on for cooking pulses in Australia now that Pulse Australia and the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council (GLNC) have jointly launched the 2015 Australian Signature Pulse Dish Recipe Competition, open to all Australian adults, including amateur and professional cooks. The contest promises international exposure and many other attractive prizes such as: $1,000 cash and an all-expenses-paid trip to Melbourne for the award ceremony.
Australia is one of the biggest producers of pulses in the world, however domestic consumption is not high. Despite dietary recommendations, too few Australians know about the nutritional benefits of pulses and how versatile they are for cooking. This competition aims to change exactly that, to remind the population that pulses are not only fully loaded with fiber, minerals, vitamins and proteins, but that they are full of flavour.
The contest, open between 13 April 2015 and 28 May 2015, is an invitation to take your favourite pulse whether it be beans, lentils, chickpeas or peas and create an original, unpublished recipe with pulses as its star ingredient. The winning recipe will be named Australia’s signature dish and will be professionally photographed and captured on video and showcased on the 2015 Australian Grains Industry Conference. The winning recipe will also represent Australia on the global stage along with other national signature dishes from around the world.
The expert judging panel for the 2015 Australian Signature Pulse Dish Recipe Competition includes renowned chef and International Year of Pulses Australian Advocate Simon Bryant, renowned chef of le Petit Gateau Patisserie Pierrick Boyer, Food Director at taste.com.au magazine Michelle Southan, and scoopnutrition.com’s Emma Stirling. “Each recipe will be judged on visual appeal, creativity, accessibility for home chefs, and of course, taste,” noted Simon. “Prizes will go to winners of the professional chef, everyday food lovers, people’s choice, and healthy recipe categories.”
Fantastic prizes including Simon Bryant’s soon-to-be-released cookbook, will go to the finalists of the following categories: professional chef, everyday food lovers, people’s choice, and healthy* recipe.
If you are Australian and ready for this pulse challenge please visit for more information: http://www.glnc.org.au/recipecomp/
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CICILS-IPTIC (to be called the Global Pulse Confederation) is soliciting proposals from qualified suppliers to support CICILS-IPTIC work in preparation for the 2016 International Year of Pulses.
The RFP for the IYOP Pulse Productivity Publication Plan has been re-issued. Please find the RFP attached, and distribute to any possible suppliers.
IYOP RFP Productivity Publication Plan
The purpose of these RFPs is to select a supplier for projects to begin in 2015. More information can be found in the documents.
Proposals and all enquiries are to be submitted via email to Isabelle Coche -This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
CICILS-IPTIC reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, as well as to accept the proposal which will be to the best advantage, as determined at the sole discretion of the Global Pulse Confederation.
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The Turkish Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Mehdi Eker attended the first IYOP Event to be hosted by the Turkish Ministry on January 30th. The minister highlighted the importance of pulses, and announced the preparation of an action plan for IYOP 2016. Hakan Bahceci was among the speakers at this event, who spoke to the importance of this opportunity to the sector and increased support for farmers to produce pulses.
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Meat free week was an initiative launched in Australia, which was also picked up by the US and the UK. The reasons behind this proposal are many, and include the high amount of water and grain needed to breed cattle in comparison to that needed to grow vegetables and vegetable sources of protein. Read more about pulses and sustainability.
Many organizations and celebrities encouraged people to not eat meat, including fish and sea food, for the last week of March. Initially Sir Paul McCartney boosted the Meat Free Monday campaign and now there are plenty of celebrities advocating not necessarily for going completely vegetarian but for reducing meat consumption, like Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Thompson, Moby and famous chefs including Jamie Oliver.
But let's stop talking about it, and instead let's hear directly from Simon Bryant, an Australian Pulse Advocate, on why this campaign is so important. His interview on the National Broadcaster in Australia, ABC, starts about 2 minutes into this recording: http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programitem/perwDOy7jQ?play=true.
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Amidst fears that global warming could zap a vital source of protein that has sustained humans for centuries, CGIAR bean breeders announced today the discovery of 30 new types, or lines as plant breeders refer to them, of “heat-beater” beans that could keep production from crashing in large swaths of bean-dependent Latin America and Africa.
Often called the “meat of the poor” for the affordable protein it provides, the crop is a vital foundation of food security for more than 400 million people in the developing world. Beans are a highly nutritious food, offering protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and other micronutrients. In addition to heat tolerance, experts from the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes are simultaneously breeding for higher iron content to enhance the beans’ nutritional value.
“This discovery could be a big boon for bean production because we are facing a dire situation where, by 2050, global warming could reduce areas suitable for growing beans by 50 percent,” said Steve Beebe, a senior CGIAR bean researcher.
“Incredibly, the heat-tolerant beans we tested may be able to handle a worst-case scenario where the build-up of greenhouse gases causes the world to heat up by an average of 4 degrees Celsius (about 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit),” he said. “Even if they can only handle a 3 degree rise, that would still limit the bean production area lost to climate change to about five percent. And farmers could potentially make up for that by using these beans to expand their production of the crop in countries like Nicaragua and Malawi, where beans are essential to survival.”
CGIAR researchers had previously warned that rising temperatures were likely to disrupt bean production in Nicaragua, Haiti, Brazil, and Honduras, while in Africa, those warnings had focused on Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the most vulnerable, followed by Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.
“As a result of this breakthrough, beans need not be the casualty of global warming that they seemed destined to be, but rather can offer a climate-friendly option for farmers struggling to cope with rising temperatures,” said Andy Jarvis, a CGIAR climate change expert.
Read the full article here: http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/beans-that-beat-the-heat/