‘It’s like a secret’: why do the leguminati want to change the way we eat?

Sowing fava beans. Photograph: Francesca Jones/The Guardian

For decades they have been working underground, establishing mycorrhizal-like networks of commerce and influence, taking root in academia and institutions, and even extending their tendrils into supranational governance.

Their goal is to transform the diets of people across the world, to spark a revolution in food production and consumption. They call themselves the leguminati.