Romania's Peasants Bring the Forgotten Broad Bean Back to the Table

Eco Ruralis, founded in 2009, is a Romanian association of peasants and agroecological producers with nearly 20,000 members from every county. Its Right to Seeds programme publishes an annual catalogue of varieties grown by member seed producers and distributes them, capped at five varieties per order. In 2026 it reported experimental broad bean plantings in Dambroca and Vadu Pasii, Buzau County, under the Horizon Europe PROSPER project, to return an old legume to peasant kitchens. The association also campaigns for farmers' legal right to save, exchange and sell their own seed.