Across continents and cultures, beans have long been a symbol of nourishment and community. Our bean‑centered projects celebrate this global heritage while advancing practical solutions to create a well‑fed world for all.
Bean Around the World (Uplifting & Sharing)
Bean Around the World is our global celebration of legumes… the beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, and countless regional varieties that have nourished communities for millennia. This umbrella campaign highlights the cultural richness, culinary joy, and food‑security power of legumes, drawing connections between traditional dishes and the modern need for resilient, climate‑friendly foods. From everyday staples to festive recipes, Bean Around the World showcases how beans bring comfort, nourishment, and creativity to tables across continents.
Under this banner, we bring together our legume‑focused initiatives, from seed access and farmer support to behavior‑change campaigns that encourage greater bean consumption in high‑income countries. By uplifting both global traditions and practical solutions, Bean Around the World demonstrates how legumes can strengthen food systems, reduce environmental impact, and inspire delicious, accessible meals for almost anyone, anywhere.
Planetary Pulse Project (Seeding Hunger Relief)
The Planetary Pulse Project was launched in honor of World Pulses Day 2023 with our partners at Seed Programs International to expand access to these vital foods. Through this initiative, farmers and community growers receive free or low‑cost organic legume seeds (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils) and other protein‑rich staples that strengthen both nutrition and climate resilience.
The Planetary Pulse Project also shines a light on an overlooked form of food waste: seed waste. Every year, enormous quantities of perfectly viable vegetable seeds are discarded due to oversupply, updated commercial varieties, or germination rates that fall just a few points below what large farms require. Through donation partnerships with seed producers, Seed Programs International rescues these high‑quality seeds, tests them for germination, and redirects them to growers who need them most. By transforming waste‑bound seeds into thriving crops, the Planetary Pulse Project supports farmers, protects the environment, and helps cultivate a more food‑secure future.
Soy Solutions (Micro-Businesses in Africa & Beyond)
Malnutrition Matters, our partner in Kenya, has developed a soy microbusiness model that has helped thousands of women strengthen their incomes while improving nutrition and food security in their households and communities. Through this deep partnership, we support soy‑based microbusinesses across Africa and other regions. These initiatives equip women and women’s cooperatives with the tools, training, and technical support needed to process local soybeans into a range of nutritious, affordable foods.
By producing multiple goods (soymilk, tofu, yogurt, spreads, puddings, and soy‑based baked goods), each microbusiness improves income streams while expanding access to high‑quality, plant‑based protein. Because women are central to family nutrition and community food security, investing in their leadership has a multiplier effect: stronger livelihoods, healthier children, and more resilient local food systems. Through this integrated model, soy microbusinesses advance economic empowerment and sustainable nutrition.
Beans Is How (Coalition Partner)
Beans Is How is a global coalition working to double worldwide bean consumption by 2028 as a practical, affordable, and climate‑friendly solution to hunger and malnutrition. The initiative builds on the momentum created when the UN Food and Agriculture Organization declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses and later established World Pulses Day on February 10 to highlight the essential role legumes play in creating more nutritious, resilient, and sustainable food systems. Today, experts increasingly point to beans as one of the most effective foods for addressing the twin crises of climate change and global food insecurity.
A Well‑Fed World is proud to be part of this international alliance, which brings together environmental organizations, food‑security advocates, chefs, and bean producers to champion legumes as a powerful tool for people and planet. Our Planetary Pulse Project was featured by the coalition for International Women’s Day, recognizing its impact in providing legume seeds to farmers and growers in need. Since its launch, PPP has distributed the equivalent of 50,000 seed packets—enough to grow more than 500,000 servings of protein‑rich legumes. Through Beans Is How, we join partners around the world in elevating beans as a cornerstone of healthier diets, stronger communities, and a more sustainable future.
How You Bean (Making It Easy)
How You Bean focuses on helping people in higher-income and higher-consuming countries rediscover beans as everyday staples, as they are nutritious, affordable, and remarkably versatile. Using “beans” as shorthand for the full legume family, this project highlights their powerful health and sustainability benefits, including doctors’ recommendations to enjoy three servings of legumes a day. With their great taste, high nutrient density, and minimal environmental footprint, beans offer one of the simplest ways individuals can support both personal well‑being and planetary health.
To make this shift deliciously easy, How You Bean! shares cooking tips and recipes that showcase the wide range of what beans can do in the kitchen, from familiar comfort foods to creative dishes where legumes are the unexpected star. By celebrating beans’ culinary diversity and everyday practicality, the project helps people build bean‑forward habits that are good for their bodies, their budgets, and the world around them.
Cool Beans (Fun & Climate-Friendly)
Cool Beans is our playful recipe series celebrating the fun, creativity, and sheer deliciousness of cooking with legumes. Using “beans” as shorthand for the full legume family, this project highlights surprising and delightful ways to enjoy beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils… from comfort‑food classics to inventive dishes where legumes take on unexpected roles. Whether blended into breads, folded into desserts, or starring in vibrant bowls and salads, beans bring flavor, nutrition, and affordability to everyday meals.
Cool Beans complements our broader legume initiatives by focusing on the joy of discovery in the kitchen. Through approachable recipes, cooking tips, and community‑tested creations, we invite home cooks to explore just how versatile beans can be. If you’re excited to try something new and share your results, we’re always looking for adventurous Cool Beans recipe testers.
PB&J Every Day Campaign (USA)
PB&J Every Day is a fun, friendly campaign to help people reduce their consumption of animal products while supporting a healthier planet. Originally launched as an online campaign, it has grown with community outreach events on PB&J Day (April 2) and year‑round engagement. While Meat‑Free Mondays replaces three meals a week, PB&J Every Day replaces seven, making it one of the simplest and most accessible climate‑friendly food shifts people can make.
PB&J remains a fan favorite for good reason: it’s environmentally and animal‑friendly, universally loved, and incredibly easy to implement at home, in schools, and at outreach events. Its simplicity is its strength! PB&J is familiar, affordable, adaptable to different tastes and dietary needs, and compatible with a wide range of environmental efforts. With millions of people already enjoying PB&J, the campaign offers an inviting entry point for anyone looking to take meaningful, everyday action for the planet. Join us and PB&J your way to a cooler, kinder world.
Peanut Butter Cafe Petition (Making It Convenient)
Let’s spread the love with our Peanut Butter Café Petition. Our petition‑driven campaign encourages coffee shops, juice bars, and bagel cafés to offer peanut butter and other plant‑based protein options. Nutritionists increasingly recommend eating legumes every day (and experts like Dr. Michael Greger even tout the benefits of enjoying them three times a day). Peanut butter stands out as one of the simplest, most accessible ways to meet that goal. It’s a beloved staple with a long shelf life, a low environmental footprint, and broad appeal across ages, cultures, and dietary needs.
Adding peanut butter to café menus is an easy win for both businesses and customers. It pairs effortlessly with bread, fruit, smoothies, and snacks; supports people managing blood sugar; and offers an affordable, climate‑friendly alternative to animal‑based spreads. By signing and sharing our petition, supporters help encourage local businesses to make healthy, sustainable choices more available to everyone. The Peanut Butter Café Petition expands the reach of our PB&J Every Day campaign by bringing plant‑based protein into the places people already eat, sip, and gather.