Keynote: Population, Public Health, Pulses, and Partnerships

On Nov. 19, 2015, the New York Academy of Science's Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science and Bush Brothers and Company sponsored a full-day conference on pulses, titled Little Beans, Big Opportunities: Realizing the Potential of Pulses to Meet Today's Global Health Challenges. The event celebrated the United Nations' declaration of 2016 as the International Year of Pulses, a measure intended to highlight the potential of dry peas, beans, lentils, and chickpeas to improve both human health and the sustainability of global agriculture.

The keynote presentation by Director Sonny Ramaswamy focused on how these little beans could help solve the synergistic threats of malnutrition and environmental degradation worldwide. Speakers in the morning session discussed the many health benefits of pulses. Clinical trials have shown that legume-based supplements can prevent childhood growth stunting in developing countries. Bean consumption also leads to improvements in markers associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease and promotes a healthy intestinal microbiome.