Bean Count Contest #14

How many beans in this jar?

There are 7 types of beans:

• Mung Beans
• Soy Beans
• Kidney Beans
• Pinto Beans
• Garbanzo Beans
• Small Fava Beans
• Lima Beans

The Rules

• The jar of beans is at the plant-based booth at the Davis Farmers' Market every Saturday (weather permitting) from 8:00-1:00 in the non-profit/community area.
• It is free to guess (estimate) the number of beans in the jar. You can update your guess by submitting another one.
• The contest will end when there are more than 70 or 80 guesses. It will then take a little while to carefully count the beans.
• The 3 guesses that are closest (above or below) to the final count will win the prizes. Ties will be resolved by a complex objective algorithm and (if needed) a coin toss. The winners will be notified and the results will be posted on this web site.

  Everyone will receive a message - win or lose.

The Prizes

1. $50 Gift Certificate at the Co-op at 620 G Street
2. $30 Gift Certificate at Trader Joe's at 885 Russell Boulevard
3. Your choice of several plant-based cookbooks.

Plant-based Cookbooks

• The Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids - Ruby Roth
• Plant-based Cooking for Kids - Faith Goimarac Ralphs
• The Great Vegan Bean Book - Kathy Hester
• Cool Beans - Joe Yonan
• Forks Over Knives, The Cookbook - Del Sroufe

The Guesses (aka Estimates)

Several people carefully analyzed, counted, measured, and multiplied. Others made a 'wild ass guess' by gut instinct and intuition. Estimation is a difficult art.

Bar graph of the guesses:

< 200 *
< 300 ****
< 400 ************************
< 500 *****************
< 600 ************
< 700 ************
< 800 ******
< 900 *********
<1000 ******
<1100 **
<1200 **
<1300 *
<1400 *
<1600 **
<1800 **
<1900 **
<2200 *
<3500 *

Here are all the guesses - with people's names abbreviated to the first 3 characters of their first and last names.

In guess numerical order

In alphabetical order by name

The Final Count

Mung Beans	184
Soy Beans	68
Kidney Beans	49
Pinto Beans	60
Garbanzo Beans	72
Small Fava Beans	113
Lima Beans	58
Total	604

The Winners

Off By	Guess	Name	Prize
16	620	Jack Bartlett	$50 Gift Certificate at the Co-op at 620 G Street
17	587	Kyle Woodrick	$30 Gift Certificate at Trader Joe's at 885 Russell Boulevard
19	623	Hannah Casillas	Your choice of several plant-based cookbooks.

The Beans and Recipes

Mung beans (Vigna radiata) are small green beans in the legume family that have been cultivated since ancient times. Native to India, they later spread to China and various parts of Southeast Asia. These beans have a slightly sweet taste and are sold fresh, as sprouts, or as dried beans. They're highly nutritious and versatile, typically eaten in salads, soups, and stir-fries. 101 Cookbooks: 10 Recipes with Mung Beans

Soy Beans

Ubiquitous the world over, this Asian bean is popular not as a dried bean but made into products such as soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, and more. I recently acquired a non-dairy milk maker named Arcmira. It makes soy milk beautifully (and almond and ...).

Kidney Beans

Named for its shape, this deep crimson bean is popular in India, Latin America and the United States, particularly in Lousiana where it is de rigeur for New Orleans red beans and rice.

Pinto Beans

This mottled pinkish bean is the most popular in the United States and parts of Mexico where it stars in frijoles refritos, borrachos (drunken beans), tacos, and burritos.

Garbanzo Beans

Also known as chickpea. An ancient bean and perhaps the most versatile one in the pantry as a roasted snack and for its ability to hold its shape in salads and to become creamy and fluffy as purees, including what has to be the most popular dip in the world: hummus. It's used widely in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and American cooking. Varieties: black chickpea, black gram, ceci siciliani, cicerchie, desi, kabuli (the most common in America). Hummus

Small Fava Beans

One of the oldest beans in Europe, where it is especially popular in Middle Eastern cooking. Varieties: large brown, split/skinned, and mini-brown - traditional in Middle Eastern ful. Recipe from Cool Beans: Lebanese-Style Ful Moudammas

Lima Beans

The lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) has a long and distinguished history that might surprise those of us who know it only as a humble ingredient of succotash. The most important member [of the wild bean species group] is P. lunatus, the moon-shaped or the lima bean. Its name does come from the Peruvian capital of Lima, even though perversely it is pronounced 'lime-uh' in English. It is among the largest of beans and for those who were subjected to them in the form of canned limas, the memory of their pasty texture, bitter metallic aftertaste and lurid green color can only evoke the gag reflex. This is a pity, for when fresh or even dried they are among the most pleasant and affable of beans, hulking in proportions, gentle and sweet.

Questions?