Pulse Feast celebrates Whitman County crop

Lentil Festival Director Alexandria Anderson stands with Lil' Lentil Queen Keira Caessens, 9, and Lil' Lentil King Lucas Mooney, 10, at the Pulse Feast in Pullman Jan. 6. She was asking the queen and king if they have taken the Pulse Pledge to eat pulses at least once per week for 10 weeks.

A celebration of the lentil, along with other pulses, kicked off a little earlier than normal in Pullman this year.

Those festivities are usually reserved for the Lentil Festival in August, but this year was marked by a Pulse Feast in honor of the “International Year of Pulses” on Jan. 6. The worldwide event, in which people gathered to eat and celebrate pulses, was marked in Pullman at Black Cypress with a menu full of pulse dishes.

“The United Nations has declared 2016 the International Year of the Pulses in recognition of the critical roles these dry peas, lentils, chickpeas and dry beans play in food security and agricultural sustainability throughout the world,” said Tim McGreevy, CEO of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council in Moscow.

McGreevy said that this year the pulse will be highlighted throughout the world, and this marks a time for the world to become more aware of the benefits of pulse crops.

“The 2016 International Year of the Pulse marks the beginning of a pulse movement, a movement that recognizes the importance of pulse crops that they play for providing nutrient dense foods within a sustainable agricultural system,” he said.

According to pulses.org, the official website for the year of the pulse, this year will be important for showcasing the importance of the pulse.

“It is important to acknowledge the enormous role pulses will play in our future – particularly our ability to produce enough food to feed the planet without destroying it,” a news release on the website read.

McGreevy highlighted this importance at the Pulse Feast.

“This year provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shine a light on the many benefits of pulses for their health, nutrition and affordability,” he said. “And it is a super component to agricultural sustainability because if we are going to feed nine billion people in the year 2050 we are going to have to increase our level of consumption of plant proteins.”

The news release continued to say that the supply of food will need to be doubled by 2050, but “we will have to produce more with less land, water and other inputs, and quickly, to keep up with a growing population and increased demand.”

The news release then highlighted five reasons for why pulses can ensure a sustainable future, including that pulses are good for the soil, produce more food with less water, have a short growing season, hold the potential to feed communities around the globe and can help reduce malnutrition and poverty.

To the first reason, the news release detailed that “some leguminous crops are so effective at adding significant organic matter to the soil and increasing crop yields” by building nitrogen in the soil through their roots. Nitrogen, according to the release, is “the most needed nutrient in crop production” and additionally helps “reduce the needs and footprint of subsequent crops.”

The water footprint of the pulse was then compared with other foods produced.

“When compared to beef, which uses about 1,800 gallons of water for every pound produced, pulses use, on average, about 43 gallons per pound,” the news release said.

In addition to the soil and water reasons, the other three reasons were that pulses can be harvested in two months or less, address global food security and meet the nutritional needs of a growing population and can help reduce malnutrition and poverty.

“This is a year and an opportunity for us to increase consumer awareness and demand for our crops,” McGreevy said. “To inspire chefs and food scientists to explore how pulse crops can enhance a range of dishes and applications. The U.S. Pulse industry has joined with other national associations around the world to launch the international pulse brand campaign that will establish pulse crops in the minds of our consumers as the future of food.”

McGreevy pointed to some of the dishes at the Pulse Feast to highlight the variety of dishes that can be made with pulses, specifically taking the time to point out the skillet lentil crisp, which took second place in 2015's Lentil Festival and the people's choice award.

“Don't forget the dessert,” McGreevy said. “You can eat your dessert and have your pulses, too!”

McGreevy challenged those in attendance to take the Pulse Pledge and also asked that they, in turn, pass the pledge to family members, friends and acquaintances.

“The Pulse Pledge is very simple. It is a commitment to eating pulses at least once a week for 10 weeks,” he said. “Now surely we can eat pulses at least once a week for 10 weeks, and we hope once a week for every single week of the entire year.”

The Pulse Pledge went live online Jan. 1.

“Since January 1st, over 50,000 consumers have gone on the Pulse Pledge, and over 1,000 of them have actually taken the Pledge,” McGreevy said. “You can join those ranks. It is painless, very painless.”

The Pulse Pledge website also includes recipes that include pulses. Lil' Lentil King Lucas Mooney was asked at the Pulse Feast by Lentil Festival Director Alexandria Anderson about his favorite dish with pulses.

“My favorite dish that features lentils is spicy lentil nachos,” Mooney replied.

“What a perfect way to show the versatility for lentils,” Anderson said in reply.

Those who wish to join the Pulse Pledge can do so by going to http://www.pulsepledge.com.

The http://www.pulses.org website also features “These are my Pulses” videos produced by farmers. In the Palouse region, Pullman farmers Kevin and Sara Mader are shown at their farm. Kevin Mader, who is a fifth generate farmer, narrates the video, stating that his great-great-grandfather homesteaded at Dusty.

“My first words weren't mom and dad,” he said. “They were combine and tractor.”

The Maders grow lentils, garbanzo beans and green peas.

“We pride ourselves in growing the highest quality that we possibly can,” he said. “It's all about quality.”