In a recent NPR article, reporter Joe Hernandez discusses why beans, once overlooked, are suddenly gaining attention. They are showing up everywhere, from social media and grocery store shelves to kids’ TV shows.
“There definitely is a renaissance,” Tim McGreevy, CEO of USA Pulses, the trade group for the pulse crop industry, told NPR. “Beans can help you feel good. That’s their power.”
Below are key highlights from the article:
- Why beans fell out of favor, and why they’re back. Hernandez explains that cheap, industrial meat production once pushed beans aside, quoting from Joël Broekaert, author of A History of the World in Twelve Beans. But McGreevy tells Hernandez that pulse demand tends to rise in hard economic times, as it did during the Great Depression and again during COVID, and it’s climbing again now as beef prices rise.
- More than just fiber. According to Hernandez, beans deliver fiber that most Americans lack, along with a solid dose of protein. Henry Thompson of Colorado State University told NPR they also feed beneficial gut bacteria. “Here’s a food that’s affordable. We don’t take advantage of it,” Thompson added. “Hey, America, wake up!” Hernandez notes the shift even reached policy: the 2026 update to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans moved beans, peas, and lentils into the protein category.
- Why beans are suddenly “cool.” Hernandez reports that heirloom bean company Rancho Gordo now sells about 2.5 million pounds a year, with its quarterly bean club waitlist running 32,000 names long. On social media, bean-fluencer Madeline Schapiro tells Hernandez that beans “gave me my life back,” and she now hosts bean-themed potlucks in Berkeley.
- The industry push behind the trend. Hernandez writes that USA Pulses is aiming to double American pulse production and consumption by 2030, while a separate global campaign, Beans is How, is targeting the same goal worldwide by 2028.
Hernandez sums up that between the price, the health case, and a culture that’s genuinely embracing them, beans look less like a fallback food and more like a trend with real staying power, at least for now.
Acknowledgement: This summary was generated using AI writing tools as part of my experimental learning process. For more information, check out the original article listed below.