Exhibit Explores Origin of Lentils on the Palouse through Countercultural Communities

Lentils have been enjoyed in Europe, Africa, and Asia for hundreds, even thousands of years. This image depicts a banquet scene in ancient Egypt, ca. 1400 B.C.E., Object 64-3, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO.

WSU Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) this week opened an exhibit that delves into the history of lentil growing on the Palouse, drawing attention to the vegetarians, vegans, Black activists, environmentalists, and pacifists who drove interest in the crop. Called “Against the Grain: Lentils and Countercultural Eating on the Palouse, 1916-2024,” the exhibit is located in MASC’s ground-floor lobby in Terrell Library and runs until August. A digital collection accompanies the exhibit.

The cover of “Science in the Kitchen,” an 1892 publication by the proprietors of Battle Creek Sanitarium. Initially affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church, Battle Creek Sanitarium encouraged Americans to remove meat and alcohol from their diets. Image in the public domain.

“In 1989, Pullman, Washington, was named the Lentil Capital of the World,” wrote exhibit curators Talea Anderson and Will Gregg. “The reason was simple: the Palouse region produced 98 percent of the lentils grown in the United States. Most were shipped to customers in Europe, Africa, and Asia, where they had been enjoyed for hundreds and even thousands of years.”

Lentils have deep roots in cultures worldwide, but how did they arrive in the Palouse? Anderson and Gregg point to countercultural communities in the United States that chose a diet outside of the norm. The first of these was the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its emphasis on healthy eating without spices, alcohol, and meat. Adventist missionaries to Japan and China brought home techniques for making meat replacements, such as gluten and tofu.

“Rationing Means a Fair Share for All of Us” poster. Source: Poese, Office of Price Administration, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office. Image from Propaganda Poster Collection, SC 005, Folder 35, Item 171, WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

In 1916, Adventist J.J. Wagner planted the first crop of lentils on the Palouse. Wagner grew Persian-style lentils and threshed them by hand, selling most of his crop by mail order to Adventist schools, businesses, and congregations.

With the world wars came strict rationing of meat, dairy, wheat, and other products, and interest in lentils peaked, Anderson and Gregg said. Cookbooks recommended using foods like lentils, soybeans, and cottage cheese as substitutes, and women on the home front responded by making everything from soybean pie to lentil-paste sandwiches.

Carol Stueckle, a Palouse wheat, pea, and lentil farmer, with lentil products, 1967. Image from Bill Walter Studio Photographs Collection, PC 120, Box 4, Folder 17, WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

Palouse farmers planted more lentils to meet the heightened demand. The Wagner family eventually relinquished exclusive rights to the crop, which allowed local growers to plant the first commercial crop in 1937. By 1948, area farmers had dedicated approximately 3,000 acres to lentils. That number grew to 12,000 by 1957, 24,000 by 1959, and 74,000 by 1964.

Other parts of the MASC exhibit describe how activists and conservationists drawn toward plant-based diets over the last several decades adopted lentils, whether supporting Black culture, animal rights, or back-to-the-earth agricultural practices, Anderson and Gregg explained.

A woman sharpens a scythe at a natural farming workshop, 1980, photograph by George Ballis. Image from Washington Tilth Association Papers Collection, Cage 602, Box 5, Folder 180, WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

In the 1960s, Palouse farmers continued to provide lentils to people who were increasingly concerned about the environmental costs of animal protein. The U.S. Department of Agriculture established the Dry Pea and Lentil Program at WSU in 1963, resulting in expanded facilities and research opportunities at Spillman Farm. New lentil varieties emerged from this program, including the Tekoa (1969), Latah (1969), Garfield (1975), Tracer (1975), Alaska 81 (1984), and Brewer (1984).

A girl holds up the Tase T. Lentil logo from Pullman’s National Lentil Festival in front of a pair of dark glasses, 2006. Image from Tim Marsh Photographs of WSU and Pullman Collection, PC 148, Box 1, Folder 54, WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

Today, lentils continue to appeal to people who are trying to reimagine the future of food, the exhibit curators said, and for the last 35 years, Pullman has played a part in encouraging lentil experimentation. The town launched the National Lentil Festival in 1989 to celebrate the environmental, health, and economic benefits of eating more lentils.

“Lentils became a mainstream food in the United States thanks to communities that were willing to challenge the status quo,” Anderson and Gregg wrote. “Religious groups, hippies, Black scientists, activists, and environmentalists worked for decades to show the value of growing and eating this unassuming legume. While all these groups had separate passions and interests, they shared a hopeful vision for the future, a sense that by eating differently, we can transform ourselves and the world around us.”