If we all ate less meat and more beans, it would be a terrific win for the environment. And that’s not the only thing to love about them! They are very good for you. And satisfying. And versatile. They are also culinary mainstays for a huge number of people from a wide variety of cultures. Beans have all the protein that the protein obsessives want right now. And they are very affordable during a time of true economic hardship. Also, they’re delicious.

There’s a small but growing number of people who are passionate about beans’ many amazing qualities, but that number needs to grow. In this episode, we went looking for the bean freaks, to learn from them how we can get everyone as excited about beans as they are. Can they help us persuade the world to fall in love with beans?

In this episode we speak with Steve Sando, founder and owner of Rancho Gordo, Joe Yonan, author of the cookbook "Cool Beans," Andrea Aliseda, author of "Make It Plant Based! Mexican," Kristen Loria, founder of Buttermilk Bean, Eve Turow-Paul, founder and executive director of Food for Climate League, and we take a visit to the Heirloom Bean Encuentro in Santa Ana, California.

What You’re Eating is hosted by Jerusha Klemperer and produced by Nathan Dalton and FoodPrint.org, which is a project of the GRACE Communications Foundation. You can find us at www.FoodPrint.org where we have this podcast as well as articles, reports, a Food Label Guide and more.

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