Article published October 17, 2009
Michigan is full of beans - and very proud of it
There are a number of ways to demonstrate loyalty to your home state. In Michigan we believe the "mitten" state is ideally bordered by four Great Lakes, each of which is great on individual merits. Granted, the weather is not always ideal but when I travel to warmer climates and claim Michigan as home, it ruffles my feathers when people utter "brrrr," assuming it is always cold here. That response is frequent even in July.
Today my Michigan cheerleading is directed at a subject you could never predict. It's not about the landscape, the beauty of the autumn leaves, or the ecological value of the Great Lakes.
It's about the large pot of bubbling cheap comfort food on the stove with an aroma that is teasing my noon-hour hunger.
Michigan beans are what's for lunch today and probably will be for several days because it's a big pot that is cooking with a leftover ham bone and two onions. What a way to save on the food budget.
Michigan grows tons of navy beans and that's what I am cooking, but the state also holds the world's record in black bean production followed closely by small red beans, the navies, and cranberry. North Dakota is the top producer of white beans.
Bob Green, executive director of the Michigan Bean Commission, says 75 percent of the 2009 harvest has been completed with a projection of 3.4 million 100-pound bags on 195,000 acres.I got so caught up in Michigan's high bean production ratings that I drove to Pigeon, which is, as we Michiganders lovingly call the area, "in the thumb." It was a 175-mile drive from Posey Lake. Staying overnight in Frankenmuth seemed a logical choice to break up the drive.
It was a learning trip about one arm of the state's rich agriculture as hundreds of acres of bean fields unfolded on both sides of the road. The farmers I met along the way reveled in "bean conversation" and said that most of the farms were in third and fourth generations of operation.
Pigeon may be a town with a population of only 1,082 but it has skyscrapers that are visible for miles around. They are the giant elevators in the center of town that are full of beans. The Cooperative Elevator Co. is owned by 943 farmers who deliver their crops during the fall harvest to be sorted and stored until market demand calls for them, which hopefully will be before the June planting. Eleven more elevators, also operated by the cooperative, are in the area.
Even though I had a good time, I am not suggesting a scenic fall trip to Pigeon. But if you go, Shaggy J's downtown is a homey little restaurant that features baked beans as a side dish every day and quite often the cook also makes seven-bean soup. Bean soup, bread, and a piece of pie were a $5 lunch at the Pigeon Village Hall when the harvest was celebrated Oct. 1.
Pat Anderson, cooperative president and CEO, not only talks beans. She has a promotional film that she gladly shows in the board of directors' room, and cooks beans at least three times a week at home. She reminds visitors that besides being an inexpensive protein, beans are low fat, low sodium, high in fiber, and contain calcium, iron, thiamine, and no cholesterol. She is particularly proud that navy, black, and small red beans with the Cooperative Elevator Co. label have been introduced to the retail market in Michigan's Meijer stores.
She is equally proud that the state's beans are shipped to Mexico in 100-pound bags. There they are called "the handshake beans."
I never bother to soak, drain, soak again, and all that malarkey when cooking beans. I just cover them with water and cook until they are done and usually add ham and onions.
Cooked navy beans spooned over bread in a bowl is mighty good eating and healthful too. I have yet to deal with cooking black beans.
Mary Alice Powell is a retired Blade food editor.
Contact her at: mpowell@theblade.com.
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