Greens and Beans: Evangelism for Health, Soul, Sanity, and the Planet

“By growing or buying good things and cooking them well, you, and your neighbor, can effect the small but collectively crucial changes that could take the human race, and its fellow creatures, safely through the twenty-first century. People often ask me, when I proselytize in public places: ‘But what can I do?’ Cook, is the answer. Cook with knowledge. Cook and evangelize.”
(Colin Tudge, Future Food, 1980.)

Enjoy a meal of greens and beans every week. Or eat them every day. Or anywhere in between. No matter what you’re eating now, adding greens and beans can make your diet healthier, cheaper, more environmentally responsible, more varied, interesting, and enjoyable.

What are the biggest diet-related problems in the US? Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer.

The American Cancer Society says eat greens and beans. They singled out beans in 2002.

American Diabetic Association: eat greens and beans.

American Heart Association: eat greens and beans.

Harvard School of Public Health: eat greens and beans.

Low cost, no sugar, no cholesterol or saturated fat.

Really hard to hurt yourself or anybody else by going overboard with it.

Good sources of protein.

Excellent sources of fiber, including soluble fiber.

Can include very significant amounts of calcium, depending on your choices.

Lots of folate and other B vitamins.

Cruciferous greens have additional health benefits.

Good for diabetics because they are slow to raise blood sugar.

Easy to find — good options are almost always available, including fresh, canned, and frozen.

A significant component of almost every known traditional or ethnic cuisine

We can all get together on this. Greens and beans are compatible with every sane diet plan, including therapeutic diets for diabetes and heart disease; vegan, vegetarian, and raw foods diets; and the moderately low-carbohydrate weight-loss diets like South Beach.
Both are perfectly compatible with meat. If you don’t want to give up fatty meats, then enjoy them in traditional dishes that incorporate greens and beans. (But less beef is a good idea.)

Easy to grow.

Easy to cook.

Almost unlimited variety.

Culturally, socially, and economically progressive, even revolutionary. No hegemonic corporate structures are based on the consumption of greens and beans. (Except maybe Goya, which I can live with.)

My personal favorite?
Navy beans, turnip greens, and cornbread. With a very light sprinkle of apple cider vinegar. So not-hip, it’s hip.