For lentil growers, 2016 was a heady time. Or, at least, as heady as it can get in the world of lentils. Normally, the humble, stodgy legume doesn’t garner much attention, let alone celebration, at least not in Canada. But the high-fibre staple food of the hippie roommate was in the midst of a marketing push. The United Nations dubbed it the International Year of Pulses. The UN does this every few years: they declare it the “Year” of an important food. Rice got the honour in 2004.