The Power of Plant-Forward Eating

What if someone told you there was one thing you could do each day to live a longer, fuller life and ensure a better world for future generations? Decades of research indicate that there is such a strategy — eat more plants.

Plants support the immune system, reduce inflammation, and reduce the risk of cancer and chronic disease, improving individual outcomes and saving society trillions of dollars each year. Eating a plant-rich diet has the potential to mitigate climate change since plants are generally less resource-intensive and emit fewer emissions than animal agriculture. In fact, eating a lower-emission diet may keep our food nutritious; research shows that rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide can erode nutrient density in plants. 

Despite these benefits, we grow and eat far fewer plants than our ancestors. Humans have eaten about 6,000 plant species at some point in history; we consume about 200 today, and just nine of these plants make up 66 percent of global crop production.

We can change this trajectory, and Guckenheimer is committed to being part of the solution. We set an industry-leading goal to make 55 percent of menu options plant-based by 2025, which has earned us the Protein Sustainability Scorecard’s top spot for three consecutive years. We’ve certified 20 chefs as plant-based ambassadors, signed the Coolfood Pledge, and adopted the Future 50 Foods biodiverse eating guide as an anchor for recipe development.

Although a variety of plants are important, a few types remain especially vital for improving human and planetary health. This week, I want to discuss two of these — landraces and legumes — and explore why they’re a critical part of how we think about a sustainable future.

Landraces & Longevity

On the Japanese island of Okinawa, a man named Kenichi Kariki grows a small patch of O-Higu soybeans, saving each seed he harvests to plant next year. Kariki aims to build up enough O-Higu seeds to save the variety — and a piece of Okinawan culture — before it’s lost forever.

In his book Eating to Extinction, journalist Dan Saladino chronicles O-Higu soy’s journey from staple crop to near extinction. Originally brought from China, Okinawan farmers started growing soybeans in the 14^th century. They saved and replanted seeds from plants that grew best in the island’s climate, favoring those that sprouted early to better resist pests during the rainy season. Over time, this process resulted in a soybean unique to the island — a landrace bean.

Landraces are varieties of plants and animals that become well-adapted to local soil and climate conditions over generations. They develop distinct growing patterns, flavors, and textures tied to a specific place, which become imbedded in local history and culture. As one of the world’s five original blue zones, Okinawa’s plant-rich diet and active lifestyle are thought to be reasons behind the residents’ longevity. Beans are considered the most important contributor to the blue zone diet and, for centuries, eating beans in Okinawa meant eating O-Higu soy.

But after World War II, economic devastation, destroyed farmland, and American military occupation led to the replacement of locally grown O-Higu beans with imported soy, with dire effects on the local population (in fact, Okinawa may no longer qualify as a blue zone due to such dietary and lifestyle changes). With the post-war boom in industrial agriculture, globalization, and urbanization, this pattern occurred across the globe. Between 1955 and 2015, the genetic diversity of wheat in Europe decreased by 97 percent. Rice varieties grown in India decreased by 95 percent in just a few decades, erasing thousands of years of adaptation. Farmers in Mexico, the birthplace of maize, abandoned landraces for hybrids during the Green Revolution, resulting in higher yields but also bringing higher seed prices. When landrace crops are lost, we also lose precious genetic resources, connections to cultural identity and cuisine, and food and seed sovereignty.

Fortunately, some landrace samples were saved in gene banks as insurance for a future that’s here perhaps earlier than expected. For example, Kariki is growing his O-Higu soy from a sample cataloged by a botanist at Ryuku University 50 years ago, around the last time the bean was eaten regularly; similar efforts are underway in India and Mexico.

In the United States, MASA Seed Foundation nurtures lost landraces back into circulation, saving the seeds year after year until enough is available for use. MASA also develops new landraces to adapt seeds to the changing climate near their farm in Boulder, Colorado. Guckenheimer chefs in the region featured MASA’s Bear Island Flint corn and Indian Woman Gold Beans on menus and developed a partnership to further connect their farm to our kitchens.

Making a Case for Legumes

There’s more to beans than Kariki’s inspiring story. Beans and other legumes are delicious, affordable, and nutritious, hitting all three of the top drivers that consistently dominate Americans’ food and beverage purchasing decisions. Despite achieving this trifecta, less than 20 percent of the American population eats the recommended amount of beans, peas, and lentils. 

It’s possible that rising prices will shift the scale toward beans. According to 84.51°, Kroger’s retail analytics and insights arm, this year about one-third of shoppers started replacing meat with beans and legumes (as well as nuts and eggs) to keep grocery bills down. Growing interest in the microbiome and awareness of the fiber gap may also encourage bean consumption. Rich in prebiotic fiber, beans can help improve gut health and reduce inflammation.

That’s why Guckenheimer joined Beans is How, a campaign to double the global consumption of beans and other legumes by 2028. As a founding member, we encourage our chefs to join a community of culinarians putting beans on the menu. Through concepts such as Terra Fagioli, which features Barilla’s chickpea and lentil pastas, we engage eaters with delicious recipes and storytelling materials that highlight the positive impact of beans.

Beyond improving human health, legumes are essential for the nitrogen cycle that supports our very existence on Earth. Leguminous plants act as a host for soil bacteria that form a symbiotic relationship with the plant’s root system and then convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that’s accessible to the plant — and eventually its eater. This process, called nitrogen fixing, reduces the need for expensive and polluting nitrogen fertilizers, which is one reason why farmers often add leguminous crops to their rotations or plant them as cover crops. Eating legumes (the seeds of leguminous plants, such as beans, peas, and lentils) as well as their greens (such as pea shoots) is one way to support soil health and regenerative agriculture. 

Embracing Plant-Based Eating

Although we’re making tremendous strides toward a sustainable future, there’s still more to do. It’s time to sharpen the conversation about what it means to shift diets and food production to embrace what the plant kingdom offers.

In my next blog, I’ll share three additional plant types that are critical to eat now and protect for the future.

Click here for part 2