Conveying a change in consumer attitudes
Some years ago, pulses were considered the fare of poorer households. However nowadays, things have changed, and good restaurants serve beans and lentils. The fact that the attitude of consumers has changed must be conveyed to producers. The link that will get the word across to farmers is missing, however, and growers get the message too late. The technical issues have been resolved; the question is who will play the part of the intermediary. Personally, I would be happy if 10 of my 400 students decided to become new style farmers, instead of us producing agriculturalists without anything to work on. (1) Leonidas Louloudis is vice rector of the Agricultural University of Athens.
