Can Learning to Love Beans Help Save the Planet?

Summary

Summary of "Can Learning to Love Beans Help Save the Planet?" by The New York Times Opinion

Episode Title: Can Learning to Love Beans Help Save the Planet?
Host/Author: The New York Times Opinion
Release Date: November 28, 2024

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Introduction

In the latest episode of The Opinions, hosted by The New York Times Opinion, food writer Bea Wilson delves into the critical intersection of dietary choices and environmental sustainability. Through engaging storytelling and insightful analysis, Wilson explores how shifting our food preferences, particularly embracing beans, can significantly impact the planet's health.

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The Urgent Need for Dietary Change

Bea Wilson opens the discussion by highlighting the consensus among climate scientists: “the average human needs to learn to eat a whole lot less meat than our current levels of consumption” (00:41). She emphasizes that this isn't merely about adopting Meatless Mondays but necessitates a radical transformation in our eating habits. This shift is essential to mitigate the environmental toll of meat production, which is resource-intensive and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

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Understanding Taste and Identity

Wilson addresses the common misconception that taste is immutable and deeply tied to personal identity: “taste is so often such a deep part of our identity that we make the mistake of thinking that taste is also destiny. But that isn't the case” (00:55). She asserts that since our food preferences are learned within families and cultures, they can also be unlearned and redefined. This adaptability is crucial for fostering more sustainable eating patterns.

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Taste Education and Changing Preferences

To illustrate the potential for changing tastes, Wilson shares her experience co-founding Taste Ed, a UK-based food education charity aimed at helping children develop a palate for vegetables, fruits, and legumes. She recounts a poignant moment captured on film: a three-year-old girl tasting a plum for the first time. Initially fearful, the child's expression shifts to joy after overcoming her apprehensions (02:15). This example underscores the transformative power of taste education in altering food preferences from a young age.

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Beans: The Sustainable Superfood

Wilson advocates for beans as an optimal candidate for this dietary shift due to their environmental and economic benefits. She outlines several reasons why beans are superior to meat in terms of sustainability:

• Affordability and Accessibility: Beans are a cheap and widely available source of protein.
• Resource Efficiency: They require significantly less water compared to meat production.
• Soil Health: Unlike many agribusiness practices that degrade soil, beans contribute positively by fixing nitrogen into the soil, enhancing its fertility (03:01).

Wilson states, “beans are kind of the ultimate virtuous food” (03:01), highlighting their multifaceted benefits for both the environment and human health.

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Strategies to Enhance Bean Consumption

To make beans more appealing and integrated into mainstream diets, Wilson proposes a two-pronged approach:

1. Celebrate Existing Bean Cultures: Recognize and amplify the diverse bean-based dishes present in American culinary traditions. For instance, Italian Americans enjoy pasta fagioli, a beloved bean soup. Celebrating such dishes can help normalize bean consumption and showcase their versatility (04:15).

2. Rebrand Bean Packaging: Challenge the negative stigma associated with beans being viewed as a "poverty food." Wilson suggests that the presentation of beans, especially canned or jarred varieties, should be elevated. She praises companies like Rancho Gordo for their aesthetically appealing dried bean offerings, which make beans look desirable and premium: “Every time I look at that website, it's like looking at juuls. There are pale green flageolet beans, there are dark jet black caviar lentils, there are beautiful pink pinto beans” (05:05).

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The Role of Pleasure in Sustainable Eating

Wilson concludes by asserting that pleasure is a fundamental component of sustainable eating. She challenges the notion that sustainable diets are restrictive or unenjoyable: “pleasure in food, which we so often speak of as a problem, is actually part of the solution” (06:20). By making sustainable foods like beans enjoyable, people are more likely to adopt and maintain these healthier eating habits. Wilson emphasizes that “sustainable eating is something easy rather than punishing” (06:30), framing pleasure as a driving force for positive change.

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Conclusion

Bea Wilson's insightful discussion in The Opinions underscores the profound impact that shifting our dietary preferences can have on environmental sustainability. By embracing beans and reimagining our relationship with food through education and rebranding, we can make significant strides toward a healthier planet. Wilson's message is clear: “pleasure is what changes the world” (06:45), encouraging listeners to find joy in sustainable eating as a pathway to global environmental improvement.

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Notable Quotes

• “taste is so often such a deep part of our identity that we make the mistake of thinking that taste is also destiny. But that isn't the case.” – Bea Wilson (00:55)
• “beans are kind of the ultimate virtuous food.” – Bea Wilson (03:01)
• “Every time I look at that website, it's like looking at juuls. There are pale green flageolet beans, there are dark jet black caviar lentils, there are beautiful pink pinto beans.” – Bea Wilson (05:05)
• “pleasure in food, which we so often speak of as a problem, is actually part of the solution.” – Bea Wilson (06:20)
• “pleasure is what changes the world.” – Bea Wilson (06:45)

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Attribution

Bea Wilson, food writer and author of eight books, including The Secret of Cooking Recipes for An Easier Life in the Kitchen, shares her expertise and experiences to advocate for more sustainable eating practices through the lens of personal taste and education.

Transcript

[US Bank Representative]

This podcast is supported by US Bank. At US bank, when they say they're in it with you, they mean it. Not just for the good stuff, the grand openings and celebrations, although those are pretty great, but for all the hard work it took to get there. Because together they're proving day in and day out that there is nothing as powerful as the power of us. Visit us bank.com to get started today. Equal Housing Lender Member FDIC.

[Podcast Host]

This is the Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news, here's what to make of it.

[Bea Wilson]

My name is Bea Wilson. I'm a food writer and the author of eight books, including most recently the Secret of Cooking Recipes for An Easier Life in the Kitchen. The consensus for a while now from climate scientists has been that the average human needs to learn to eat a whole lot less meat than our current levels of consumption. We're not just talking about a few Meatless Mondays, we're talking about a radical shift in how we eat. Taste is so often such a deep part of our identity that we make the mistake of thinking that taste is also destiny. But that isn't the case. Tastes can change Every single individual food preference that you have and that I have was learnt. We learn it in families, we learn it in our culture, but anything that's learnt can also be unlearned and relearnt and there's a huge potential there and I've seen it with my own eyes. I, five years ago was involved in co founding a food education charity in the UK called Taste Ed, short for Taste Education. And the essence of it is helping children to learn new tastes, especially for vegetables and fruits, but also legumes such as canned chickpeas. I work with a head teacher here in the UK at school in Lincolnshire and he happened to manage to capture on film the moment that a three year old girl took her very first taste of plum.

[Teacher]

Pop it in your mouth.

[Bea Wilson]

And she went through the full gamut of human emotions. The first emotion was fear, which is what all of us feel, even as adults when we're presented with something that is alien, that we're considering putting into our mouth, which is a very intimate gesture. And she had terror on her face. And then she said to her teacher, will it hurt me?

[Teacher]

It's not gonna hurt you, darling.

[Bea Wilson]

And she said, it's all slippery.

[Teacher]

It is slippery, isn't it? It feels really slippery.

[Bea Wilson]

And the teacher said, don't worry, you can try it if you want to. You know, you can Put it in your mouth. And then she did.

[Teacher]

Oh, well done.

[Bea Wilson]

And you could see she was still very alarmed, but suddenly something on her face shifted to curiosity.

[Teacher]

What's it feel like in your mouth there, Flo? Is it tasty? Can you hear yourself chewing? Can you hear it in your head?

[Bea Wilson]

And all of a sudden she just then did this massive thumbs up gesture and you saw her switch to joy. It is possible to learn to love new foods and it's something transformative and actually joyous. And if any food were a perfect candidate for changing our preferences, it's beans. In terms of sustainability, beans are everything that meat is not. They're cheap, they're a very accessible form of protein. They're a far less thirsty crop than the mass produced meat of America. And in addition, not only do they not ruin the soil as so much agribusiness does, they actually fix nitrogen into the soil. So they're kind of the ultimate virtuous food. But more than that, they can be delicious. So, yeah, the question is, how do we make beans more desirable for people to try and eat? One of the first things I need to say is actually there are plenty of Americans already who do have a taste for beans. So I think stage one would be let's celebrate the food cultures in America. Italian Americans, pasta fagioli. What's more delicious than that? Let's celebrate all of these versions of different American bean dishes which are loved but maybe haven't had the amplification and the prominence in mainstream food culture that they deserve. Step two is, if we're talking about beans in their most convenient form, which is canned or jarred, we could do a much better job of packaging it in a way that gets away from the stigma around beans. They're seen as a poverty food because beans are so much associated with food pantries. The company Rancho Gordo, who sell dried beans, that every time I look at that website, it's like looking at juuls. There are pale green flageolet beans, there are dark jet black caviar lentils, there are beautiful pink pinto beans. And you're just led to it through a kind of beauty. I love beans, and I know that not everyone agrees. Maybe you have traumatic childhood memories of slimy lima beans, maybe you just don't see chickpeas as something as appealing as chicken. But I'm here to tell you that you can learn to love beans and doing so might be extremely beneficial for the planet as well as your own health when the foods that you actually want to eat are the sustainable ones. Then sustainable eating is something easy rather than punishing. And I think an important truth that we sometimes have lost is that it's very rare for human beings to actually make a habit of eating foods they dislike. So pleasure in food, which we so often speak of as a problem, is actually part of the solution. Pleasure is what changes the world.

[Podcast Host]

If you like this show, follow it on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. This show is produced by Derek Arthur, Sophia Alvarez, Boyd Visaka Durba, Phoebe Lett, Christina Samulewski and Jillian Weinberger. It's edited by Kari Pitkin, Alison Brusek and Annie Rose Strasser. Engineering, mixing and original music by Isaac Jones, sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker, Carol Sabaro and Afim Shapiro. Additional music by Amin Sohota. The Fact Check team is Kate Sinclair, Mary, Marge Locker and Michelle Harris. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta, Christina Samulewski and Adrian Rivera. The executive producer of Times Opinion Audio is Annie Rose Dresser.

[Teacher]

Sa.