Category: Nutrition

As part of the International Year of Pulses, we are working on a global database on the composition of pulses, starting with the collection of analytical data. We have found many scientific articles on pulses, which we are compiling. As usual, most data are on proximates, minerals and amino acids. If you have any unpublished data on the composition of pulses or their products, we would be extremely happy to include them into our database, especially if they contain vitamins, but we would be interested in any compositional data, or if they are on processing influence, fermentation, soaking etc.

If you have any analytical compositional data to share please send the sources or the compiled data to Fernanda Grande, (Fernanda[dot]Grande[at]fao[dot]org) who is coordinating this project.

That’s from Ruth Charrondiere, INFOODS coordinator at FAO. There’s more information on the IYP website. Seems like a worthwhile endeavour, please give (data) generously. Oh, and if you want to meet Ruth and her colleagues, and learn more about food composition tables in general, check this out.

LATER: Wondering what to do with all that data? Here’s a thought…

Ok, so let me not make the same mistake again. The Food Tank Summit is on right now, and is being livestreamed. Among the forthcoming highlights, our friend Simran Sethi, author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, will be moderating a panel on Beyond Calories: The Need for Nutrient Dense Diets in a couple of hours:

Over the last 50 years, research organizations, governments, and development agencies have focused on increasing calories available per person–yet, today, nearly 1 billion people continue to go hungry and another 2.3 billion people are overweight or obese. Clearly, filling people up is not enough — we need to actually nourish them with nutrient dense crops and foods that are good for both people and the planet.

Join in using #foodtank.