A pulse consumption per capita study from 2021, found Canada ranked 47th out of 144 countries, at 3,381 kilograms per capita, an alarming 30 per cent drop from the previous year. It’s been a continuous decline since it reached an all-time high in 2017 of 11,030 kg.

WHY IT MATTERS: Increasing domestic consumption of pulses at home in Canada helps with exporting pressures abroad when trade barriers pop up on the international stage.

Pulses are found to be more highly consumed in developing countries than in industrialized ones, accounting for 75 per cent of the average diet.

Looking to reverse these trends in domestic consumption, Pulse Canada had its 25 by 2025 strategic initiative to diversify the industry by directing 25 per cent of pulse production to new markets and end-use categories to encourage consumption abroad and domestically. Also, the Road to $25 Billion campaign by Protein Industry Canada looks to bolster ingredient manufacturing and food processing at home to make domestic consumption easier.

Reasons for not consuming pulses identified in both North American and European studies include:

• dislike of taste and/or texture,

• low knowledge of health value

• lack of knowledge around cooking method

• negative perceptions of time and effort in preparing and cooking

• potential for gastronomical issues

Pulse Canada did a deep dive into the production volumes of each pulse and have found dry beans, faba beans and chickpeas as the largest growth potential for domestic consumption. Direct-to-consumer promotions such as its Love Canadian Beans social media push have showcased its affordability in food security and their ability to be consumed in a variety of ways in meal and recipe types.

“To complement that, we recognize consumers do need to have an almost direct experience with food to encourage them to consume and make new dishes at home,” says Julianne Curran, vice president of Market Innovation for Pulse Canada.

“We’re leaning into opportunities with food-service operators here in Canada, where consumers may have an opportunity to try something when they’re dining out,” says Curran. “After a positive experience, then they would be more encouraged to perhaps buy a can of beans and make something at home. We do have a lot of natural interest from food service operators here in Canada, that are also looking at increasing their plant-based offerings (on their menu), recognizing affordability being a real big concern amongst their clients.”

The Canadian pulse industry is also making its way into educational institutions to sing the praises of pulses to Gen Z, where university and public-school aged students are putting a higher priority on plant-forward dishes along with the general public.

Alberta Pulse Growers unveiled this academic year, a partnership with School Sports Alberta in promoting its Pulse to Plate campaign in its over 400 schools, including easy-to-make delicious recipes for families on the go.

“The other thing we’ve been doing more of is leveraging some of the marketing messages that you can be highlighting about being nutritional benefits and continuing to educate the companies that are manufacturing bean products for retail sales, so that they can use a lot of that messaging on their labels and in their marketing as well,” says Curran, adding in higher fibre and protein intakes in a food security affordable way.

“There are various nutrition claims that you can make around beans. We’re wanting to ensure that companies know all the things they can say.”

For the food-manufacturing industry, Pulse Canada is promoting the increase of the domestic utilization of faba beans and chickpeas. Given the quality of the crop grown in Canada, it lends itself to value-added processing.

“Faba beans in particular do lend themselves really well to the same type of processing as we’re seeing for dry peas,” says Curran.

“So that’s fractionation processing, flour processing. We’re trying to promote to the food-manufacturing industry here in North America the value in terms of added nutrition and functionality that those ingredients can provide to food products.”

There has been some successful use of fava beans in animal feed, with markets also available in pet food as an end-use product.

Demand for chickpeas has traditionally been for humus, but the versatile pulse can be ground into a gluten-free flour, rich in protein and fibre, for baking, thickening or binding, or used as an egg substitute in vegan recipes.

“It’s got high uptake by consumers, and so we are working to promote chickpeas for those value-added processing streams that are really seeing growth here in North America. We’re doing that through a lot of projects to demonstrate the performance of Canadian chickpeas into some of those newer applications and market that to the food industry,” says Curran.

The post Pulse Canada eyes home-grown push amid lagging consumption appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

According to research conducted by Second Harvest, 23 per cent of avoidable food waste in Canada is caused by misunderstandings about best before dates. This is a big opportunity for change. By learning how to use these dates properly, we can reduce waste, manage our grocery budgets and respect the work that goes into growing and producing our food.

What best before really means

In Canada, best before dates are required on foods with a shelf life of less than 90 days to show how long the manufacturer believes the product will keep its ideal flavour, texture and nutritional value. It is a guide to quality, not safety. Food does not suddenly go bad when the date passes.

There’s a difference between an expiration date and a best before date. In Canada, only five foods have true expiry dates: infant formula, nutritional supplements, meal replacements, formulated liquid diets and very low-energy diet products. The nutrient content of these foods must remain exact to meet the nutritional needs of those consuming them, often seniors, infants or other compromised individuals. For this reason, these foods carry expiration dates.

An often overlooked fact is that best before dates only apply to unopened packages that have been stored as instructed on the package. Once a food is opened, the date on the package becomes irrelevant. From this point on, common sense and your senses are your best guide to determining if food is edible.

Use common sense to judge how well food has been stored and handled. A package of soup mix stored in a camper for a year, experiencing big temperature swings, potential critters, and being jostled around will have a shorter shelf life than the same package tucked in a dark, dry cupboard at home.

A container of salsa with chip crumbs in it and possibly subject to double dipping won’t last long. Milk that is left on the kitchen table during meal times won’t last as long as milk that is poured and promptly returned to the fridge.

Our everyday habits make a big difference in how long our food will last.

For many foods, using our senses can help us detect signs that food may not be safe to eat. Look at the colour and texture of the food and smell for any off odours. If there’s mould, discolouration, swelling or other abnormalities, do not use.

Don’t rely on sight, smell or taste when food has been left out more than two hours, when there’s been a power outage or fridge failure, or when dealing with high-risk foods like sprouts, deli meats, raw fish, or anything for infants or vulnerable people.

Using our senses and practicing proper food handling and food storage are skills that are far more useful and practical than simply looking at a best before date stamp.

How to use best before dates wisely

Think of best before dates as tools to help you shop, store and freeze food with less waste.

1. Use best before dates when shopping

If you plan to use an item right away, look for products close to or on its best before date. They are often offered at a reduced price and are a great way to save money.

If you’re stocking up for later, pick items with longer dates. This gives you more time to use them before quality begins to fade.

2. Use best before dates to organize and store food

When you bring groceries home, rotate your pantry and fridge so that items with the nearest dates move to the front. This makes it easy to see what to use first. A little rotation goes a long way in preventing forgotten jars and cartons from being discovered too late.

3. Use best before dates to decide when to freeze food

If you see that you will not be using an unopened item soon, freeze it before the date passes while quality is still at its peak.

Living on the Prairies, surrounded by farms that put in enormous effort and care to grow the crops, produce, dairy, eggs, poultry, and meats that feed our families, we know that wasting food affects more than our wallets.

When we throw food out, we also discard the labour, water, soil nutrients and transport energy that supported it. Using best before dates the right way helps us manage our food bills and shows respect for the work that goes into producing that food.

Here are two recipes that work well for using up food that’s at or just past its prime, but still looks and smells normal.

Cheesy Use-it-Up Quesadillas

Quesadillas are always a hit and are a great way to use up leftover cooked meat and vegetables. Serve with mashed avocado, sour cream and salsa.

• 1 cup cooked meat (ground or shredded) or beans

• 1 cup cooked vegetables, chopped small

• 1 tbsp taco seasoning

• 1-2 tbsp canola oil

• 3 cups grated cheddar cheese

• 4 green onions chopped, optional

• 4 large tortillas

Instructions

• Mix cooked meat or slightly mashed beans and vegetables with taco seasoning. Set aside.

• Heat fry pan over medium high heat. Add oil just to coat bottom of pan.

• Place large tortilla in hot pan.

• Sprinkle ¾ cup cheese over entire tortilla.

• Add half cup of filling to only one half of the cheese covered tortilla.

• Cook for two minutes to let cheese melt and ingredients get warm.

• Sprinkle green onions over filling.

• Fold the half of the tortilla with just the cheese on top of the half with the fillings and fry for one minute.

• Remove from fry pan and cut into four wedges. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Makes: 4 servings

Source: GettyStewart.com

Choose-A-Fruit Fruit Sauce

Make this waste-saving fruit sauce with whatever fresh, frozen or canned fruit you have on hand. Perfect for topping pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, yogurt or ice cream.

• 2 cups any fruit (fresh, frozen or drained canned)

• ¼ cup water

• 3-6 tbsp sugar, to taste

• 1-2 tsp citrus zest (optional)

• 1 tbsp lemon, lime or orange juice (optional)

• 1½ tbsp cornstarch

• ¼ cup cold water (for dissolving cornstarch)

Instructions

• Add fruit, ¼ cup water, sugar, zest and juice if using to small pot. Bring to gentle simmer.

• Cook 5-12 minutes, stirring gently, until the fruit softens and becomes saucy. Length of time will vary with type and size of fruit pieces.

• In small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup cold water. Add to the pot while stirring constantly. Continue to stir and bring to boil for one minute until glossy and thickened.

• Remove from heat. Taste and adjust sweetness. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

• Cool before storing in fridge for up to four days. Do not freeze.

Makes: 1½ to 2 cups sauce

Source: Gettystewart.com

The post Best before doesn’t mean bad after appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Pulse versus legume

The words pulse and legume are not interchangeable. Legume is the broad term for plants from the Fabaceae family. Pulses are dried, edible seeds that come from these plants.

That definition discounts some legumes, like fresh garden peas or beans. Others, like soybeans and peanuts, are also separate, “because they have a much higher fat content, whereas pulses contain virtually none,” Pulse Canada’s website notes.

For home cooks, all that really matters is that pulses are delicious, nutritious, affordable and grown here on the Prairies.

Canada is one of the world’s biggest pulse producers. Saskatchewan grows the most chickpeas, peas and lentils nationwide, while Manitoba is the largest producer of dry beans.

Very little of that actually makes it onto Canadian plates. Canada is the biggest pulse exporter in the world. Over 80 per cent of what is grown domestically is shipped elsewhere, including 74 per cent of field peas and 81 per cent of lentils.

Pulse power

Pulses are dynamos of nutrition, offering an exceptional blend of protein, healthy carbohydrates and fats. They’re also filled with fibre, folate, iron, potassium and magnesium.

Various research suggests that including pulses in our diets can support digestion, manage weight, lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, promote heart health and, as a consequence of some of those benefits, may even reduce cancer risk.

Adding pulses to the menu

Pulses are versatile and offer many possibilities beyond the typical chili or split-pea soup. Consider using them in dips, pasta dishes, salads, casseroles, creative soups, stews, burgers, smoothies and even baking.

Enjoy them whole, split, mashed or even ground into flour. Use them as the star of the show or combine them with meat for added texture and flavour.

Both canned and dried pulses are an affordable way to add more nutrient density to meals. For canned pulses, simply rinse, drain and use. When using dried pulses, most benefit from pre-soaking for a softer texture, fewer split skins, easier digestion and shorter cooking time. Smaller pulses like lentils, mung beans and split peas do not need soaking.

Follow these steps to properly prepare larger dried pulses:Rinse and discard broken pulses and any debris.

Add pulses and fresh water to a large bowl that will accommodate them when they swell two to three times their size. Use a ratio of three cups of water to one cup dry pulses.

Soak for 10 hours or overnight.

After soaking, drain and rinse. Add to large pot using a ratio of three cups water to one cup pulses. Simmer for 60-90 minutes, or pressure cook for 20-30 minutes, according to your pressure cooker.

Add herbs, spices and aromatics to the cooking liquid for added flavour, but wait to salt your pulses until after cooking for optimal tenderness.

Store cooked pulses in the fridge for three to five days, or freeze in convenient portion sizes for up to a year.

Next time you’re planning meals, consider where you can add these Prairie-grown gems. With their versatility, affordability and health benefits, pulses deserve a prominent place on the table.

Getty Stewart is a professional home economist and food educator helping home cooks select, store and serve everyday fresh food. For more recipes, preserves and kitchen tips visit www.gettystewart.com.

The post Put Prairie pulses on your plate appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Entries may be a written piece, presentation, video, social media campaign, blog post or media pitch.

The contest is open to those between eight and 21 and involved in 4-H beef, junior cattle shows or beef production.

Prizes are $1,000, $500 and $250. Entries must be submitted by Sept. 16 (those received before Aug. 31 are entered to win a $1,000 BBQ prize pack). Winners will be announced by Sept. 30.

For more information, see the Aug. 10 article at abpdaily.com or contact Katelyn Laverdure at katelynl@albertabeef.org.

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