I recently was invited to a bean industry event that focused on field trials for beans. For hours, we toured acres of bean fields and heard the results. The beans were bred for uniformity, size, color, resistance to disease and bugs and of course, yields. I was having a grand old time until the end when it dawned on me that not one word had ever been mentioned about flavor.
The tour was followed by a luncheon prepared by the local health department and included a short lecture on the health benefits of beans. The prepared beans included three types of "chili", a salad and hummus, all designed to mask the flavor of the beans, or designed to mask the lack of flavor, I should say. No wonder people think they hate beans! This thick stodgy porridge they were passing off as chili would please no one.
I then started thinking about how we’ve done the same thing to pork. It’s been bred so that it’s bland and nearly fat-free and when we cook it, we need to smother it in barbecue sauce to again hide the lack of flavor. What if the ingredients tasted like something and we wouldn’t need to buy the barbecue sauce? What if the beans were delicious and could be enjoyed by themselves, or perhaps with a fine piece of heritage pork?
I talk to a lot of people who are just getting interested in food. I also talk to a lot of self-described "foodies" and "gourmets". They can study Larousse Gastronomique
I’m not a culinary luddite and I know the worth of breeding to avoid disease and pests. I suppose there’s even a place for the kind of canned red kidney beans one finds on a salad bar. But if we demanded quality as loudly as we’re demanding economy and convenience, I think we’d be starting something worthwhile.
Interesting point. If you were to recommend 3 varieties of beans that have great flavor, what would they be? (I plan to grow some next year.)
Roger
Nice. You’re absolutely correct, of course. Taste hasn’t been a relevant factor in agricultural research for decades. Slowly, slowly, slowly, I see signs of change, however. The UC system, for instance, has new sensory analysis labs in both Davis and Parlier. (It is considered very cutting edge for food production researchers to spend the time and money on what the food tastes like.)
Some folks have finally figured out that beautiful, disease-resistant, conveniently timed produce isn’t enough. It needs to also be something that consumers want to eat.
That’s where producers such as yourself come in. By challenging the conventions and then putting in the time and effort to educate people, you’re helping create informed consumers – some of whom are demanding better food.
I was at your stand the other day when a tourist came by asking for a bean soup mix. The question resulted in a gentle explanation of how different beans have different cooking times, the offer of a sample to taste, a discussion of flavor. The customer left with:
1. an enjoyable encounter with a Bay Area food purveyor
2. some fundamental things to think about food
3. and a package of beans to take beck to the relatives
So, that’s the long version of saying “keep up the fight.”
Yours are the only beans I’ll eat straight from the pot, with nothing but a little salt! 😀
You couldn’t have said it better, it’s time to stand up and demand better quality food. I am a frequent visitor of your site and really enjoy your writing. I don’t live in your area but recently had the opportunity to try a couple varieties of your beans, and let’s just say, I was ready to quit my day job and become a bean farmer. I really enjoyed them. I only wished that I lived in your part of the country where fresh food was more readily available. My question to you is, “Do you think American’s can change their eating habits and eventually demand better quality food?” I believe there are people out there who ‘just don’t know how to shop and prepare food.’ This is probably not the correct site to be posting this, but I am very frustrated with the quality of food in today’s world and hope that the bean industry can take a valuable lesson from “Rancho Gordo” and realize that along with convenience, uniformity and color, there needs to be, above all else, flavor. Or else, what’s the point of eating?
Thanks for your comments. I’m proud of our beans but I wasn’t really just fishing for compliments! I should say the growers were very sheepish about the flavor issue. It’s very interesting- there’s a key disconnect between some farmers and the food. They like farming and producing but they don’t have such a keen interest in food.
Roger, I think it depends on where you live. A great fast one is Yellow Indian Woman. Rio Zape have really good green beans along with the eventual super dried beans. I’d do a runner too, if only for the flowers.
Jim, I always get nervous that I’m going to get snippy with some of these new customers. It’s not their fault but it’s really frustrating trying to explain what I do to someone who really just wants a soup mix. Joan is much nicer and more patient!
Now the next big question is how do you grow for the masses and maintain quality? it gives me a headache to think about it.
Michelle, I’m banking on the fact that we can change, even if it’s slow. Don’t quit your day job just yet!
Steve
I’m in Italy, and I served a group of Americans some roast miaolino (young pig). They were bowled over by the flavor, then blanched when I went into the “well it needs to have fat to have flavor’ song. Oh well. We still have to keep fighting the fight, and you do a fine job!
Judith, that’s depressing and encouraging. At least you’re teaching them. I promise if you invite me to dinner I will not complain once about the fat!
Hey Steve
While at an intensive two day wheat seminar put on by UC Davis, we were all brought out to trial fields and gene labs. After walking, chatting and looking at charts, know that wheat growers too are breeding/growing/selecting for pest resistance, yield, height and disease resistance…all like goals from your bean growers as well.
In fact, if you looked around to nearly all large scale, often corporate food production systems, flavor is NOT a pursued variable, relevant to meats, fruits, vegetables,breads and more. And, most often the inherent or naturally selected health benefits have been minimized at the expense of other dominating factors(such as yield , pest resistance, etc)
We all know that this boils down to profit, the incredible and consistent profit that may be made from large scale operations that quickly turn over a crop for a successive, predictable one…quickest to market, quickest green into pocket.
Small farmers are reminding us (thru farmers markets, csa’s, and other short transport methods) that good products, those that are significantly healthier, tastier and memorable are derived from caring farmers..those who take the time to husband important and fundamental crops/products: cheese, pork, beef, poultry, grains, breads, beans, honey, heirloom fruits, vegetables and many many more.
These things take time and that concentration results in a product that is superior in so many ways..we all have seen and tasted these products at farmers markets.
So, at best we now can make these basic choices based on our knowledge of farming and the simple but oft forgotten gradient of taste.
The bigger problem these guys have is that they can’t compete anymore. The Chinese and Peruvians are saturating the market with cheap imports. So if we can’t compete as a commodity, maybe our edge can be quality.
Now, to compound problems, we are trying to keep our Mexican neighbors out of the US. We don’t want them to come in and take all those jobs we refuse to do. So Ag’s answer is to take production out of the state and start producing even more in Mexico. This would seem to encourage suburban sprawl and anyone who says they have a quick answer to all of this is an idiot!
You make me smile, even when I am sad.