I'm working across Europe to promote a diversity of pulses in crop rotations and in the kitchens.
Based on my experience as an academic researcher in France and Sweden, and as a crop advisor in Germany, I started the initiative Lumineuses to:
- Look for the locally best varieties of beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils, testing new crops at field scale with farmers and help them to sort, clean and sell the harvest.
- Communicate to the general public the love of growing pulses and cooking them (project with school children, cooking workshops).
I currently live in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Read more information about me in this interview: https://www.globalbean.eu/articles/meet-the-global-bean-partners-nicolas-carton/
Global Bean projects we are involved in:
- experience in academic research: knowledge and EU-wide contacts on legume-cereal intercropping & crop diversification.
- practical experience as an advisor for soybean production (tofu).
- network of pulses-motivated researchers, farmers and organizations in Germany, Sweden, France and Spain.
- practical advice when setting up trials of new crops, including post-harvesting steps.
Reach a broader community to communicate with farmers and food consumers, network with other initiatives to inspire each other.
Cowpeas were domesticated in Africa. They spread into Asia and Europe and were grown very long before Phaseolus beans came from America and replaced most European cultivation of Vigna beans. Cowpeas are largely cultivated in semiarid regions of Africa and Asia and are the main pulse species in several Western African countries which have the highest per capita pulse consumption in the world.
Peas are one of the oldest cultivated crops. The wild plant is native to the Near Eastern centre of crop diversity. Domestication of wild pea plants probably began with the start of agriculture in the fertile crescent about 11,000 years ago, where they were likely companion plants to early-domesticated forms of wheat and barley
The wild parents of the common bean (P. vulgaris) grow in an area that stretches from northern Mexico to Argentina, in two broad regions: Mesoamerica in the north and the Andes in the south. Wild beans in the two regions are genetically distinct.
Do you think cooking pulses is difficult? Have you ever asked yourself if and how you could prepare more of them?Discover details about soaking and cooking times; the best cooking method depending on the pulse species and the intended use... We are here to help you!
Nicolas Carton is an agronomist and pulse ambassador. Based on his experience as an academic researcher and as a crop advisor he started the initiative Lumineuses to search for the locally best varieties of legumes and to process them through delicious recipes.
Curious about the diversity of legumes and how they are produced? Watch the recording of our “Live in the show gardens” meeting and discover legume gardens throughout Europe and beyond! The Global Bean Show Gardens are a diverse network of demonstration gardens, production farms, breeding stations, and experimental farms. This interactive online event took us
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The beauty in the seeds and further advantages of producing your own legume seeds This article has also been published in German on the TerrABC platform, terrabc.org. Legume seeds are living miracles The other day, I was looking at some beans before cooking them and I had an “aha-moment”: a plant had used the genetic
Takeaways from Terra Madre 2022 Closed roundtable, public conference and a closer look at the recent IPES-Food report The high protein content of pulses is one of the main reasons why we (the Global Bean community and many others) believe that they have a key role to play in fixing our broken food system –
Nicolas Carton is an agronomist and pulse ambassador. Based on his experience as an academic researcher and as a crop advisor he started the initiative Lumineuses to search for the locally best varieties of legumes and to process them through delicious recipes.
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