Page 37 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

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BEANS, THE HUMBLE HEROES

f all the items in the American grocery store, I’d argue that
legumes are the Clark Kents: often ignored, yet harboring
Ohidden 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