How to Be a Conscious Eater

7

BEANS, THE HUMBLE HEROES

O

f all the items in the American grocery store, I’d argue that

legumes are the Clark Kents: often ignored, yet harboring

hidden superpowers. We’re talking lentils, peanuts, peas,

and the many stripes of beans, from black beans and kidney

beans to soybeans and garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas). These

low-key seeds are actually little heroes. Celebrated in cultures

and cuisines all around the world, and nutritional powerhouses

in their own right—full of fiber, plant protein, and nutrients, all

at a small caloric price point—legumes are especially stars on

the sustainability field.

What’s so magical about them? First and foremost, nitrogen

fixation. Not a household term, I know. Atmospheric nitrogen is

the nitrogen that’s in the air—accounting for 78 percent of the

air we breathe. Meaning there’s lots of it. By contrast, nitrogen

available to plants is harder to come by: They can’t absorb it

directly from the air. That’s where legumes come in. They’re a

converter of sorts, pulling nitrogen from the air and fixing it, or

transforming it, into a form that helps plants grow. They do this

by pumping nitrogen into the soil through their roots, thanks

to a unique type of microbe that takes up residence there. The

legume’s roots essentially feed and house those microbes in an

unusually friendly tenant-landlord relationship.

Because nitrogen is so important for producing healthy

crops, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are often used in farming,

but legumes don’t require that fertilizer. Nitrogen fixing boosts

soil health, which can boost yields. And, most altruistically of

all, because of the way legumes enrich the soil around them,

they actually lower the greenhouse gas emissions of crops

26 how to be a Conscious Eater