Walla Walla Pulses Tour

Pulse: Pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family. Pulses grow in pods and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

Thursday, May 29th, was an eventful day in Walla Walla. Pulses USA hosted their "A Pulse Journey," inviting numerous influencers, dietitians, and journalists to attend an informative and interactive two-day event. Here, attendees learned about the history, the importance of incorporating pulses into their everyday diet, and the current goals that the pulses team aims to achieve in the near future.

Their two main goals are to encourage U.S. citizens to incorporate more pulses into their diet due to the nutrients they provide, which many in the population lack. As well as doubling the pulse production in the U.S. by 2030. We have a large production of pulses in the U.S., but the majority of which is traded with other countries, leaving us to buy pulses for consumption produced in Canada.

The USA Pulses team wanted aid to spread the word and achieve these goals, and what better way to do so than to take those with the ability to reach others than to put them at the forefront of it all; the farms and facilities in which pulses are produced in Walla Walla. There is an abundance of chickpea and dry pea fields, as well as the Blue Mountain Seed facility located in Walla Walla, where attendees were able to tour, along with exploring the Ferrel Family Farm fields with Greg Ferrel to learn about the dry land farming and equipment used here.

A majority of attendees were surprised that many pulse fields are grown through means of dry land farming, meaning the fields only rely on rainwater, no irrigation or watering from the farmer is done. They were also taught about the benefits of growing pulses for their nitrogen replenishing benefits for future crops to use. The pulses team furthered the encouragement to consume pulses by having various meals prepared with pulses as their main focus, using local pulses grown in Walla Walla, and they were delicious!

(For further in-depth information, statistics, recipes, and more please visit the USA Pulses website at https://www.usapulses.org/)