By Robynne Anderson, President of Emerging Ag. This article originally appeared on huffingtonpost.com on December 12, 2016.
The upcoming holidays may make you think about New Year’s indulgences and so what a great way to start the New Year off right to feast on Pulses too in 2017. Chickpeas, beans, lentils, and peas are great food. My favorite recipe is the Punjabi Dal Makhani.
They are so good for people and for the planet that they have their own special day, Global Pulse Day, to be celebrated all around the world on January 18th! That’s because pulses have a low use of water and a small carbon footprint.
Pulses are core to the food baskets of people in most places around the world. And of course, we keep finding out that traditional foods are good foods. Some are even dubbing pulses a “super food”. They are low in fat, contain important minerals and vitamins, are great for your health and help in weight management.
So whether your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight or lower your carbon footprint, you should be eating more pulses every week, and certainly on January 18th, 2017 for Global Pulse Day, to continue to celebrate pulses and build on the momentum of the United Nations International Year of Pulses.
Last year, Pulse Feast was celebrated at 141 events in 36 countries reaching 21 million people! From all around the world, people were mobilised to make this event a day to remember.
So this year, I encourage people around the world to eat their favorite beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas that day and share the many benefits of consuming pulses for people and the planet. You can organise a family meal with pulses on the menu or share your favourite pulse dishes at a corporate party. You can invite friends for dinner or promote the benefits of eating pulses at school. If you love pulses, it’s the right time to tell the world! If you are looking for recipes, there are hundreds of them available on pulses.org.
Anybody can participate in any corner of the globe and can share their Global Pulse Day with the rest of the world either by posting information about your event on social media and using the hashtag #GlobalPulseDay #LovePulses or registering the event on the Global Pulse Day webpage.
All the events will be highlighted on pulses.org website with a 48 hours’ coverage on January 18th to cover all the world’s time zones. There is no limitation on number of people (from 2 to 20,000) to be attending your event.
- Join our Thunderclap so your social media will automatically support the campaign on January 18
- Use the Twitter hashtags #GlobalPulseDay #LovePulses to be sure to be recorded as part of our TINT feed (a social media aggregator)
- Capture images of your event: any visual material that can be shared in social media will be of great use. Take pictures!
- Talk about your event: you can write a blog post before and after the event talking about why you are involved in celebrating pulses in 2017.
Please visit the Global Pulse Day webpage to learn more. You too can be a part of this exciting celebration when you join the Global Pulse Day movement on January 18th 2017!
Feast away!