Luncheon to celebrate the International Year of Pulses

 

 

 

Luncheon to celebrate the International Year of Pulses

 

Remarks by the Director of the FAO Liaison Office to the United Nations

 

Ms. Carla Mucavi

 

United Nations, Delegates Dining Lounge

 

18 January 2017

 

 

I am honoured to be here and I wish all of you a happy new year.

 

Allow me to thank the Permanent Mission of Canada and the Global Pulse Confederation (GPC) for organizing this second luncheon to celebrate pulses in the United Nations and for inviting FAO to take part in this important event.

 

Canada and the GPC are members of the Steering Committee of the International Year of Pulses, which meets at FAO in Rome. I also would like to acknowledge the co-chairs of the Steering Committee, Turkey and Pakistan, and thank them for their leaderships in highlighting the importance of Pulses during this Year.

 

By establishing 2016 as the international the International Year of Pulses the International Community   committed to:

 

• Raise awareness on how pulses contribute to healthy diets, food security and nutrition;
• Promote pulses throughout the food system, including their environmental benefits; and,
• Further production of pulses, foster research, better utilize crop rotations and address the challenges in their trade.

 

We are achieving these goals. Today, pulses are better recognized as a valuable source of protein and as an ally for food security and nutrition, sustainable development and in the fight against climate change.

 

Six Special Ambassadors for the International Year of Pulses were among the main voices in this journey. They included farmers, chefs and scientists such as Dr Joyce Boye, from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 

 

And, while in the past, pulses were considered “poor man´s food”; there is a growing movement to bring pulses to the centre of the plate.

 

Chef Ron Pickarski, featured in the FAO publication “Pulses: nutritious seeds for a sustainable pulses”, is part of it. You will recall that he was here at the UN in December, in the event that brought together the International Year of Pulses and World Soil Day. The publication “Soils and pulses, symbiosis for life” was also presented at the event.

 

This was only one way in which we celebrated pulses in New York. Allow me to recall some of the other activities FAO was involved with:

 

• The book on sustainable pulses is on sale at the United Nations bookshop, accessible to all that visit the UN;
• The UN food caterer offers pulse-based dishes using recipes from that same book; and
• The UN Food Garden featured pulses prominently among the crops they grew last year here at the UN.

 

I want to thank all those that were part of these efforts in New York.

 

Worldwide, hundreds of activities celebrated the International Year of Pulses. They included scientific conferences, technical workshops, exhibitions, media events, festivals, educational programmes and advocacy campaigns.

 

Among them, were five FAO-led regional consultations that provided overviews of the opportunities, challenges and existing policy environments related to pulses.

 

Two online discussions on FAO’s Food Security and Nutrition Forum were also facilitated in the framework of the year.

 

The regional consultations and online discussions provided inputs to a Global Dialogue on Pulses held in FAO, in November, with the presence of Member States, research centers, civil society, academia and farmers.

 

And, although the 2016 calendar year is over, we are still celebrating.

 

The official closing of the International Year of Pulses will take place in a few weeks in Burkina Faso.

 

Also in the coming weeks, the FAO/INFOODS Global Food Composition Database for Pulses will soon be launched.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

When the International Year of Pulses ends, we will not close the book on pulses. This was but one exciting chapter of a story that we are writing together.

 

Thank you for your attention.