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The Food Issue
2016
Grains
West
10
CHEFS ARE TODAY’S ROCK STARS
and providing them with innovative edu-
cational opportunities allows them to be
ambassadors for many tantalizing foods,
including pulses—the official term for
beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas.
The Alberta Pulse Growers Commission
(APG) ramped up its efforts to encourage
Albertans to grow, buy and eat more puls-
es in 2016 for International Year of Pulses
(IYP), a global initiative by the United
Nations. This was especially evident in the
area of chef outreach, said Debra McLen-
nan, food and nutrition co-ordinator for
APG and a registered dietitian.
“International Year of Pulses provides
an ideal opportunity for the Alberta Pulse
Growers to further engage with chefs,
who can then share the many benefits
of eating pulses with a wider audience,”
McLennan explained. “My hope is that
Alberta chefs will have a renewed interest
in utilizing pulses on their menus and
see that there are a variety of ways to add
pulses to meet consumer needs.”
A major component of APG’s chef
outreach during IYP is a partnership with
the Alberta Culinary Tourism Alliance
(ACTA) to hold several dining events fea-
turing beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas.
APG provided sponsorship to ACTA to
challenge chefs to use pulses in innovative
ways at various ACTA culinary events
taking place throughout 2016.
“We can help grow the profile of
pulses through the chefs because they’re
influencers,” said ACTA executive director
Tannis Baker, noting that ACTA chal-
WinSport’s energy cookies.
TABLE
TALK
TRENDSETTINGCHEFS INSPIRECONSUMERS TOEMBRACE PULSES
DURING INTERNATIONAL YEAROF PULSES
BIGOPPORTUNITIES
FOR LITTLEBEANS