Agriculture

Photo contest lets dry beans and lentils shine

By John Holland

jholland@modbee.com
Dry beans, peas and lentils are packed with soluble fiber that soaks up cholesterol like a sponge and escorts it out of your body. Low in fat, legumes are loaded with protein and folate, a B vitamin that helps lower blood levels of homocysteine a type of amino acid linked to heart disease and stroke. Tulane University researchers found that people who ate legumes at least four times a week or more had a 22 percent lower risk of heart disease.
Dry beans, peas and lentils are packed with soluble fiber that soaks up cholesterol like a sponge and escorts it out of your body. Low in fat, legumes are loaded with protein and folate, a B vitamin that helps lower blood levels of homocysteine a type of amino acid linked to heart disease and stroke. Tulane University researchers found that people who ate legumes at least four times a week or more had a 22 percent lower risk of heart disease. Bob Fila Chicago Tribune

Still haven’t taken a selfie with a lentil plant? Now’s your chance if you help run a school garden.

A national photo contest seeks the best images of this crop, along with related plants such as pinto beans, garbanzos and fava beans. It is sponsored by the Crop Science Society of America and open to teachers and others who manage the plantings at elementary and high schools.

Prizes range from $300 for first place to $50 for honorable mention. The entry deadline is Nov. 1, since these are warm-season crops that are dried at harvest.

The society, based in Madison, Wisc., points out that these plants have root-clinging microbes that take nitrogen from the air, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizer.

“One of our goals is to get people to eat more beans – because they are tasty and great for human health – and to get people to grow more beans – because they play an important role in soil health,” the society’s Mark Brick said in a news release.

He is committee chairman for the International Year of Pulses, another name for these plants. The West Side of Stanislaus County grows some of them, notably lima beans.

One of our goals is to get people to eat more beans ... and to get people to grow more beans ...

Mark Brick

Crop Science Society

Rules, entry forms and photography tips are at www.crops.org.

This is the second time in two months that the Farm Beat has publicized a veggie-growing contest involving students. The other one challenges kindergarten to fifth-grade students to grow as many fresh green peas as possible from 20 seeds between March 1 and May 16. The prize: A visit from Miss America Betty Cantrell.

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture sponsors the contest. Details are at www.agfoundation.org/projects.

Elsewhere on the Farm Beat:

People who run farms and ranches with respect for the Earth will vie for the state’s 10th annual Leopold Conservation Award.

Nominations are due July 8 for the $10,000 award. It is named for Aldo Leopold, who helped inspire the conservation movement with his 1949 book, “A Sand County Almanac.”

The award will be announced at the annual meeting in December of the California Farm Bureau Federation in Monterey. It is a co-sponsor with Sustainable Conservation, which has offices in San Francisco and Modesto, and the Sand County Foundation in Wisconsin.

More information is at www.leopoldconservationaward.org.

John Holland: 209-578-2385, jholland@modbee.com

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Photo contest lets dry beans and lentils shine."

Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER