CONSERVATION

grow them to feature at their farm stand just
outside Santa Rosa, California, along with a half
dozen other heirloom beans of distinction. And
California’s most popular promoter of heirloom
beans, Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo New World
Specialty Foods, has made sure that Pinquitos are
one of the twenty-five heirloom beans featured at
San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Marketplace, and at
many of his ninety other retail outlets in California,
from San Diego to Ukiah.
When reminded that a writer for Wine
Spectator suggested that he “is changing the way
we think about beans,” Steve might let out a wild
laugh and roll his eyes. “My role is simple: I bring
great chefs with me to farmers markets, and with
them, I break down people’s fear that making great
beans is difficult to do. When they first pick up one
of my packages of heirloom beans, they sometimes
look at it like it’s a bunch of rocks. Some people
don’t even try to cook some things for fear of
messing them up…they’re in the headlights, so to
speak. They need to gain enough confidence to be
able to transform what looks like dry pebbles into
something creamy and delicious.”
Most heirloom beans are good for eater
because of their flavor, minerals and soluble fiber,
but they can also be good to farmers. Rancho
Gordo has joined forces with Xoxoc, a Mexican
family business, “to help small farmers continue
to grow their indigenous crops in Mexico, despite
international trade policies that seem to discourage
genetic diversity and local food traditions.” Rancho
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