Each year, Avena Canadiense, on behalf of the Prairie Oat Growers Association, hosts an online oat-based recipe contest for consumers based in Mexico. Followers of the Avena Canadiense Facebook page are asked to submit their recipes to the website for a chance to win cash prizes, have their recipes featured on the website, and their recipe published in the annual recipe book.

With COVID-19 requiring us to stay home, cooking new and exciting healthy recipes has never been more topical! It is very easy to participate and does not require expert cooking skill-levels. All you are required to do is create a unique recipe using oats, take a photo of it, and submit it to the website!

Manitoba is an agricultural hub in Canada, with over 14,700 farms and 17.6 million acres in operation according to the 2016 Census of Agriculture. As such, farming is an essential way of life for many Manitobans. Farmers in Manitoba have special legislative protection intended to prevent creditors from seizing and selling farmland without giving the farmer a reasonable opportunity to repay their debt.  A Family Farm Protection Act was first created in 1986 to help make small farms more economically viable and promote healthy local rural economies. This act helps level the playing field and eliminates special treatment of large-scale farm operations. If a creditor fails to follow the proper procedures, any action taken by the creditor to enforce its security will be considered void. A Family Farm Protection Act outlines the steps creditors must take in order to enforce security against farmers.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a group of 34 member countries that discuss and develop economic and social policy. Recently, OECD released a global report, The Heavy Burden of Obesity – The Economics of Prevention, on the impact and burden of obesity on public health and economics of each OECD country. 

The High Level Dinner (HLD) provides a forum for senior leadership from the private sector and civil society to interact with Ambassadors, leaders and Permanent Representatives to the Rome-based agencies to discuss current opportunities and challenges in the context of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS). This year, the conversation focused on “Multistakeholder Partnerships to Finance and Improve Food Security and Nutrition in the framework of the 2030 Agenda”. A successful sustainable development agenda requires partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society. These inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, a shared vision, and shared goals that place people and the planet at the centre, are needed at the global, regional, national and local level.

The Emerging team met in Kenya last month for our semi-annual team meeting. With the picturesque setting of Mount Kenya, 19 team members got together to discuss our many projects. We use this time to get input from different team members on certain issues they may not work closely on year-round. This adds new perspectives and value to our clients. 

After three days of meetings, a smaller group from the team took two days to tour multiple smallholder dairy farms in Kiambu and Kerugoya, rural areas just outside of Nairobi. These tours gave us an idea of the various challenges’ farmers face in Kenya, including access to resources (Kenya is in the midst of a drought) and waste management. 

In addition to farm tours, we were given a tour of Palmhouse Dairies, a dairy processing plant based in Githunguri. Owned and operated by Margaret Munene, Palmhouse Dairies creates milk and yoghurt products distributed in Nairobi.

We are looking for a dynamic and motivated protocol officer to be based in Rome.

This role aims at coordinating delegations of representatives who come to attend events that are implemented vis-à-vis United Nations Rome-Based Agencies.

On January 18, 2017, the world will celebrate pulses…again! Formerly known as Pulse Feast, Global Pulse Day will be celebrated every year to promote the nutritional and environmental benefits of pulses. 

Celebrate with us by joining our Thunderclap to promote the benefits of pulses for people and the planet on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. Sign up here: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/50361-global-pulse-day?locale=en 

Eat pulses that day and tell the world about it! You can register your lunch, dinner, party with pulses with us so they are part of the celebrations on January 18! Events will take place globally and be shared through social media. Learn more, and register your event here: http://pulses.org/global-pulse-day  

Last year we saw over 140 events world-wide celebrating pulses. In 36 countries, events ranged from a university meal in Chennai joined with a lecture on pulses, and children in Malawi were fed protein supplements made with pulses. A skating party with a Dutch Olympic medal winner in Amsterdam, as well as a roundtable discussion with IFPRI in New Delhi at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS). As they were chiming in the International Year at the Gate Restaurant in London, those across the Atlantic geared up for new dishes in Brazil, Three Kings celebrations in Mexico City, lunch for one hundred in Pullman, and an event in Toronto that had pulses trending on twitter.

We are so excited about this year’s social media event, that we have developed a series of downloadable resources for your use. These include:

• Multiple Twitter promotional photos
• Advertisements
• Blog template
• Flyers translated in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Turkish, and Portuguese
• Social Media Plan

Download these items here. 

For more updates on #GlobalPulseDay, and for inspiration on different pulse dishes to serve at your event, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Show the world that we #LovePulses on January 18! 

Happy Global Pulse Day

 

The 43rd plenary session of the UN Committee of World Food Security took place October 17 to 21, 2016 to discuss the issues and solutions on global food security and nutrition. This year’s session saw 56 side-events. The Private Sector Mechanism hosted 4 and a book launch, all discussing various issues and topics to advance the private sector’s engagement in reducing food insecurity, and achieving the sustainable development goals. These side-events included: 

I was given the opportunity to attend the International Food Technology conference in Chicago, IL, USA last week. The events drew a crowd of 23,000 food scientists, technologists, agriculturalists and foodies.

I was there to support Pulse Canada, the American Pulse Association, USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, and the Global Pulse Confederation put on the LovePulses Product Showcase. Winners from the National Competitions, and winners from the Virtual Competition presented their products to a crowd of over 100. Offering samples and cooking demonstrations, the winning teams captivated the audience for their hour long session at the Cooking Up Science booth. It was so great to see these students taking advantage of the opportunity to present their hard work to relevant industry members.

The teams who presented their products include:

• Charlotte Reynolds, for her Blooming Food Lupin Crisps from the UK
• Phindile Jane Tsela, for her Bean Jam from Swaziland
• Tushar Kaushik, Shardul Dabir, Yash Naresh Gajwani, NIFTEM, for their FMP Chips (Flax, Millets and Pulse Chips) from India
• Chandre Van De Merwe, Austen Neil, Nicolle Mah for their BiotaGelata from Canada
• Steven Ross, Yuda Ou, Audrey Boeken, for their Southwestern Vegan Black Eyed Pea and Chickpea Enchilada with Salsa Verde and Rocky Mountain Succotash from the USA
• Hannah Dressen, Shakira Abu Samah, Payton Irlbeck, Joe Quinlan, for their Southwest Street Tacos, from the USA
• Charlize Snyman and Naomi Cutler for their Coconut Chickpea Cookie from Australia

Learn more about the teams, watch their YouTube videos, and read their blogs here.

All of the student’s samples were eaten and mentioned many times while exploring the convention afterwards. In addition to the presentation, the students were given the opportunity to connect with media outlets to share their stories with the world. So far, the live articles can be found on the Huffington Post here:

• Charlotte Reynolds, for her Lupin Crisps
• Tushar Krausik, for FMP Chips
• Phindile Tsela, for her Bean Jam
• Steven Ross, of Southwestern Vegan Black Eyed Pea and Chickpea Enchilada with Salsa Verde and Rocky Mountain Succotash
• Nicole Mhah, for BiotaGelata

More teams are in contact with their local media outlets, with pieces going live both online and through radio outlets! Follow @LovePulses for additional event coverage.

The whole presentation was filmed, and will be made available on the IFT website soon.

Read the press release on iyp2016.org.

This past month has been one of the most fascinating months on the job for me. I was able to be a part of a global campaign which gathered lots of recognition on the web. Pulse Feast was an event that consumed our time for close to a year, planning and organizing, and it finally took place on January 6, 2016. I spent close to 48 hours with other emerging team members, chained to our computers, ensuring the event goes on without a hitch… and wow was it ever exciting.

Normally, a 48 hour work day with 3 hour sleep breaks here and there is something not enjoyable, and something I waved goodbye to in University. However, the 48 hours were filled with major highs, having images sent to us from around the world with people celebrating and embracing the International Year of Pulses.

We had planned ahead, outlining the many events that were sent our way so we would be prepared and ready once the thousands of images were flooding in our direction. But, as most global social media campaigns, there were many surprises. These included consumers seeing the hashtag #PulseFeast and holding their own private celebrations. These “surprise” events took place in Africa, South Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. We were also fortunate to have images sent our way of children being fed pulse nutrients in Malaysia. The notion of #PulseFeast being a celebration to raise awareness of the benefits of pulses and how delicious and versatile they are, was achieved.  We were trending globally on Twitter, with our hashtags showing up on the “trending now” column for hours at a time in Canada and Australia.

This is only the beginning for the celebration of pulses. We encourage everyone to continue celebrating the International Year of Pulses. By using the hashtag #LovePulses, your images, tweets, and videos will be shared on our social media hub. Join the conversation, share your pulse experiences, let’s celebrate!

Read the report: