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Abstract
Despite the evidence-based health benefits of pulses and their significant role in sustainable diets, consumption remains at a very low level in highly developed countries. In an attempt to fill in the knowledge gaps on factors influencing this phenomenon, a study aimed at identifying attitudes, incentives and barriers to pulse consumption was carried out in a sample of 1027 Polish urban employees aged 25–40 years. The sample (quota type) was representative in terms of age and gender. Exploratory classifications using Kohonen neural networks were performed to define profiles of participants for each analysed issue. Pearson’s chi-square analysis was used to check whether the profiles depended on socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. The results suggest that very low pulse consumption is a result of lack of habits, discomfort after eating and long preparation time. Pulses were recognized as a good source of protein (72% of the sample), especially among women (81%). Only 43% of the sample saw pulses as a substitute for meat. The majority of consumers pictured pulses as a tasty and healthy food, although they were not sure if this is true for small children. Women recognised pulses as a more environmentally friendly food but this knowledge would not impact their intake. Profiles of respondents with positive attitudes towards increased pulse consumption were identified, constituting 39% of the sample. These consumers could eat more if they were encouraged to do so. This shows that programmes aimed at fostering greater pulse consumption are crucial to activate a change towards more sustainable diets. At the same time, simple and clear guidelines should be developed to overcome the unjustified stereotypes about pulses. These would support consumers to make healthier and more sustainable choices and help professionals carry out effective promotion and education activities.
Highlights
Pulses, one of world’s traditional staple food crops, are a subgroup of legumes harvested for dry edible seeds
Our research showed that the consumption of the latter foods remains on a very low level in the sample what lead to the decision to use the term ‘pulses’ in the paper in reference to the studied group of products
Almost half (48%) of the sample lived in cities with less than 100,000 habitants (31% in cities with less than 50,000), and another 23% lived in the five big Polish cities with 500,000+ habitants
Summary
One of world’s traditional staple food crops, are a subgroup of legumes harvested for dry edible seeds. The category does not include green peas and fresh beans which are systematised as vegetables, nor oil legumes (soybeans and peanuts), as the classification adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization is based on the world’s main ways of utilization [1]. The most prevalent classification concerns species used for food or feed. It is common for the group of dry edible legume seeds to include beans, peas, soybeans in recent years as well as lentils and chickpeas, and sometimes broad beans, the latter are consumed mainly in the summer as a fresh vegetables [2]
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