Written by Nadia Radzman

The agrifood system is a complex network of multiple stakeholders from a range of disciplines with (sometimes) conflicting interests. My experience in this space began from an academic perspective, of how to improve the system through plant biology. After many years pursuing this perspective, I began to shift to a focus on entrepreneurship; to look at the scalable and practical technology interventions that could improve the system.

One of the challenging projects that I have undertaken over the years is to rehabilitate neglected (legume) crops back into the agrifood system. It started from an African legume that can produce both beans and underground high-protein tubers, called the African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa), and currently I am continuing the project with a British legume, the broad bean (Vicia faba), or fava bean if you are in Europe or the Americas.

As a fan of the ‘systems-thinking’ approach to solve complex problems, I have explored the stakeholder networks around the entire production of the broad bean in the UK with the aim of understanding the critical nodes within the system that can be leveraged to sustainably rehabilitate this crop back into the British diet. This was made possible through the Innovation and Knowledge Exchange Fellowship, the support from Kings’ E-Lab, and the collaboration with William Templeton Foundation of Young People’s Mental Health (YPMH). The major output of the fellowship was the Broad ‘n Mind project. I have also shared some of the findings from the fellowship with a brilliant European NGO, the Protein Project, that has the same vision of improving European food system by diversifying sustainable protein resources, one of which is through legume crops. These findings have been incorporated into this report on Legume Renaissance on bringing back the broad bean into EU food systems, which was presented in the European Parliament for better agrifood policy.

Through the Broad ‘n Mind project, I have engaged with amazing people over various thought-provoking conversations on the current and future state of our agrifood system. Amongst all these discussions, one of them has resulted in a collaboration with a local NGO, Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination (CCI). When I had my first coffee chat with the Director of CCI, Emily Dowdeswell, I was inspired by her perspective on education: children are not passive learners but actively construct their educational journey and experience. If we give children the space to explore and engage with the natural world, that is how they will come to change it for the better.

This discussion triggered a question: what if we consider children as one of the stakeholders in our agrifood system?

*The many representations of the bean plant for the Bean Diaries*

This is not exactly a new idea. Food literacy in childhood up to adolescence has been proposed to influence food choices in adulthood many times. This literacy consists of three competencies: relational, built through familiarity, culture, and everyday practices around food; functional, the ability to identify good and nutritious food; and critical, the capacity to evaluate the various food choices available. Experiential learning that extends beyond conventional classroom activities is an effective way to develop these competencies and to produce positive, sustained behavioural changes (Charlton et al, 2020). This experiential learning closely ties in with the Artscaping approach developed by CCI, where children experience the natural world and actively explore their relationship with the world through art. This could be a new and creative approach to food and plant literacy. With that in mind, Broad ‘n Mind co-developed a short school programme as part of CCI’s Artscaping initiative. The aim is to use the broad bean as the muse for the Artscaping activities in schools, building plant and food literacy in children. The hope is that this will lead to a better understanding of how plants contribute to the food system, and how broad beans can support mental health (in short, how beans can make you happy!).

*Creativity around the bean theme and reflections after observing the leaf and nodules*

The programme consists of the children growing their own broad bean plant and learning different aspects of this plant: from the essential resources that plants need to grow, the nitrogen-fixing nodules that build the protein that we eat, to the importance of pollination by the long-tongued bumblebees (which are currently in decline). At the end of each session, the children would draw what they had learned from the session in their Bean Diaries.

I was amazed and impressed by the children’s creativity and thoughtful insights throughout the few weeks of the programme! For the first session, the children even came up with a bean game in which they need to act out whichever type of bean was called out. Who knew there were so many kinds of beans that could be expressed through playful gestures: jelly beans, jumping beans, runner beans, cool beans, and of course, happy beans. When learning about the essential needs for a plant to grow, a little girl told me that the beans also need space to grow. We concluded that a little girl needs space to grow too.

Once the beans had overgrown the small pots, we re-potted them in bigger ones and this was where the children tested their assumptions: whether the biggest seed would grow into the tallest plant and whether the tallest shoot means the longest root. It turned out that the smallest seed can grow into quite a tall plant and sometimes the smallest shoot can have one of the biggest roots. Observing this, one of the children shared: “It’s like the smallest person can have the biggest personality”. There were so many wonderful insights from the children and some of them were captured in our Bean Diaries.

I also learned a tremendous amount from the children. I rediscovered my appreciation of microscopy when I brought in a simple light microscope for the children to look at leaves, flowers, and root nodules. The microscope was a hit with the children! Both the quietest child and the most restless child in the classroom were fascinated by it. They wanted to look at everything that they could shove under that microscope: rocks, sticks, strawberries, crayons, charcoal, and even their own thumbs. Each time, the object looked unexpectedly different under the microscope because of the microstructures invisible to the naked eye. The children also wrote a few life lessons from observing the bean plants and these became one of my favourite parts of the diaries.

*Reflections and insights from observing the growing bean plant in the Bean Diaries*

The programme was thoroughly enjoyable and educational for me, and from reading the Bean Diaries, for the children as well. I hope that the lessons, observations, and insights that the children gained throughout the short programme will stay with them and help them (as stakeholders) to make better decisions that will influence the agrifood system. The Broad ‘n Mind could not have trialled its first iteration of a school programme at the Trumpington Park Primary School without the support and help from the co-leads of the Artscaping sessions: Hilary Cox Condron, CCI’s artist-in-residence and Michelle Grogan, therapeutic practitioner from Cambridge Acorn Project. This programme would also not be possible without the lengthy and inspiring discussions with Emily Dowdeswell, the Director of CCI. Thank you to the children, Hilary, Michelle, and Emily! Broad ‘n Mind will continue to improve its school education resources, so look out for the next iteration!

Charlton K, Comerford T, Deavin N, Walton K. Characteristics of successful primary school-based experiential nutrition programmes: a systematic literature review. Public Health Nutrition. 2021;24(14):4642-4662. doi:10.1017/S1368980020004024

The Bean Diaries: Children as Stakeholders in the Agrifood System

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