Beans: Usage

Third-world poverty continues to guarantee the stature of beans as part of a plant-based diet. The wealth of first-world nations, however, especially the United States, has led to carnivorous excesses that have generated medical, ecological, and ethical crises. Beans are an important part of attempts to mitigate the effects of the excesses with a return to healthful eating habits. Ever-changing patterns in US immigration and their effect on the multicultural revolution of the late twentieth century have encouraged the introduction of a variety of bean products and bean dishes as well as a heightened receptivity to them. To the huge repertoire of Italian and French recipes, for example, have been added Tuscan ribollita (a stew of cannellini, or white beans, greens, and stale bread, perhaps not so different from the aforementioned Mayan stew) and the Provençal soupe au pistou with green beans and flageolets. Meanwhile, the cuisines of modern Latin America, especially Brazil and Cuba, have made increasing headway in the United States. Newly visible are specialties such as Brazilian feijoada completa—a festival stew of black beans and an assortment of meats—and the staple black beans and rice from Cuba.