Beans and peas
Many of the beans we’re used to eating – haricot, red kidney and black beans – originate in Central and South America. While they’re grown more widely these days, a majority are cultivated in the USA and China, with Europe importing around €473 million dried beans in 2020. The most commonly eaten pea, the chickpea, comes from Western Asia, with India now being the leading producer in the world.
When buying imported pulses, there’s usually little provenance information on how – or where – they are grown. The reality is that most are grown on large farms, and while beans and peas often form part of crop rotations, conventional crops are often grown in a way that degrades soil health and biodiversity, and sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. Organic certification is a good starting point, ensuring that organic practices are used to manage fertility and pests rather than harmful chemicals, but the carbon footprint of shipping beans and peas around the world is difficult to assess.
Some beans such as cannellini and borlotti are more commonly (but not exclusively) grown in Europe, reducing the food miles of the beans. However, the UK has a strong history of growing beans – the Vicia faba family – that can be eaten fresh as broad beans or dried as fava or field beans. When a group of local food enthusiasts in East Anglia discovered that these field beans were still commonly grown in the UK as part of crop rotations, but destined for animal feed or exportation to Egypt, they founded Hodmedods and set about changing this. “They’re a near complete food and fix nitrogen from the atmosphere rather than requiring fertilisers,” Josiah Meldrum from Hodmedods explains. “Also, they’re water efficient, help build soil carbon, and come with a near ten thousand year history of recipes and cultural significance.”
As they looked further into British grown pulses, they set their sights on revitalising carlin peas – once a common staple in parts of England – before expanding into experimenting with other beans and peas that can be grown in the UK climate. This year they boast six different varieties of peas – including British grown chickpeas – alongside a range of whole and split fava beans.
Lentils
Originating in the fertile crescent, different varieties of lentils are now grown across the world – including North America, South Asia and Europe. As with beans and peas, it’s difficult to find provenance information on imported lentils and many are grown on large conventional farms that utilise significant amounts of herbicides and insecticides. For fewer food miles, look for Puy lentils that must be grown in an area of South East France, and similarly to beans, it’s best to always look for organically certified lentils where possible.
Hodmedods have been working with farmers to grow a number of different lentil varieties in the UK. This process began in 2015 with small trials and the first commercial harvest was in 2017. “Lentils grow brilliantly, they’re just a challenge to harvest,” explains Josiah; “And lentils with very clear provenance are a much higher value pulse so are a great way to support farmers as they diversify their rotations.”
One of the farmers who grows lentils for Hodmedods is Andy Howard, who has a 300Ha farm in Kent. “We grow the lentils intercropped with Camelina to help negate some of the risks – if one of the crops fails, we still have one to harvest,” he explains.
Dried or canned?
Whether you buy them canned or dried, the majority of beans are imported into the UK in their dried form, with canned beans rehydrated and packaged in the UK. While there is the carbon footprint from the transportation from canning to customer to consider, the energy usage of cooking dried beans at home is significant. If you do buy dried beans, it’s best to rehydrate before cooking (which shortens cooking time), and cook them in larger batches, to save on energy.
Pasta
The UK imports $948million of pasta each year, making us the fourth biggest importer of pasta in the world. The pasta that is made in the UK is often made using imported flour – such as the hard durum wheat used in spaghetti that is commonly grown in North America and southern Europe. You can make pasta with British grown wheats though – and there are a number of specialist small pasta producers who are exploring how to use British grown grains, including heritage varieties, to make dried pasta for the UK market.
Pasta Carleschi is the first British artisan producer of organic dried pasta, launching in 2019 and expanding the range to include spelt, einkorn and emmer grains, which are stone ground for the nutritional and flavour benefits. “By working with British farmers, we support our homegrown agriculture and reduce the carbon footprint of each bag of pasta,” Director Natalia Gruzina explains; “These heritage grains – like spelt and emmer – have been grown on our soils for centuries, naturally adapting to the climate and needing fewer chemicals, which means a cleaner, greener approach to farming.”
Rice or no rice?
It’s difficult to ignore the fact that there are certain crops that we can’t grow in the UK such as rice, which requires a hot and humid climate for cultivation. Following the Green Revolution, many rice farmers have been forced into growing high yielding monoculture varieties, requiring more chemicals and tying farmers into buying rather than saving seeds. It is also estimated to be responsible for 48 per cent of greenhouse gases from croplands and 40 per cent of the freshwater resource – partly due to its widespread consumption – but also due to the continuous flooding of the rice paddies.
There is research being done into how rice production can be made more sustainable, but in the UK, other than small producers such as Nice Rice, the best option is to buy organic rice and eat more UK-grown grains. Barley, spelt and wheatberries are great in a salad or stew, but can also be substituted into risotto-style dishes or cooked whole for a nutty but tender accompaniment. As well as oats being a staple breakfast food, naked oats can also be cooked whole, but with all these alternatives, check where the grains are grown to ensure they’re British, and choose organic where possible.
There has also been a rise in the consumption of quinoa, favoured as a nutrient-dense, high protein and gluten free option. There have been a lot of questions raised over the rise in popularity of the grain and the impact of this on small producers in the Andes where most farmers have received an increased price for the crop, but this has led to more land being used for monoculture cultivation and locals no longer able to afford to buy the grain. There have been big steps forward though in growing the crop in the UK, with the British Quinoa Company and Hodmedods once again leading the charge.
“Quinoa grows well in the UK, but compared to more mainstream arable crops it can be far more fickle to grow,” Stephen Jones from the British Quinoa Company explains. “We’ve made great improvements to the crop over the past few years by breeding for more robust and reliable varieties, and learning how best to manage the crop.”
This feature is part of our WL Sustainable Food Series, by Steph Wetherell, which includes guides on fruit, veg, bread, meat, and more, over the coming weeks.
There is such a variety of beans and lentils to eat, with many more being grown in this country. This is thanks to people like Hodmedods who have pioneered this work.
We can get all the nutrition we need from these with a smaller impact on the Planet, lovely.