Practically Edible celebrates Bean Day on the 5th of January.

There's no general agreement, however, about when Bean Day actually is. In 2003, the Governor of North Dakota (John Hoeven) declared Bean Day to be 3 November. North Dakota's claim to fame in the field of beans, as it were, is that it's the top producer of dry edible beans in the Union.

Garrison, North Dakota, however, holds its Bean Day on 15 April. They say it's held on this day (tax deadline day) because after paying taxes people will be eating beans for a while.

Around the beginning of October each year, in Athens, Alabama, the Fire Department holds a Bean Day dinner every year to raise money for charity. They feed about 3,000 people.

As far as a Bean Day in January goes, some people disagree whether it should be the 5th of January, or the 6th. There are two organizational precedents for a Bean Day in January. The Northarvest (sic) Bean Growers Association of Minnesota has been holding a bean festival in January since 1975 around the third week of January. And the Nebraska Dry Bean Growers Association holds a "Bean Day" annual meeting in January.

If you're in a rush today, you could mark the day by having some plain but honourable baked beans on toast from your favourite tin. Or, to be more adventurous, you could cook up a French cassoulet, or sample some bean burritos.

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