The term Alb-Leisa firstly means the ''Öko-Erzeugergemeinschaft Alb-Leisa'' (engl. "Eco-producer association Alb-Leisa"), secondly a trade name and thirdly traditional varieties of lentils from the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...

, Germany. "Leisa" means lentils in Swabian. The Alb-Leisa was included in the

Ark of Taste The Ark of Taste is an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods which is maintained by the global Slow Food movement. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and part of a distinc ...

at Slow Food Deutschland in 2012. There are currently 70 small farms in this group. The marketing of Alb-Leise is done by ''Lauteracher Alb-Feld-Früchte'', formerly known as ''Biohof Mammel''. Especially in the region

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, but also via webshops.

History

The originally Near Eastern lentil is one of the oldest cultivated plants. In 1908, the daily newspaper Tübinger Chronik reported an increase in cultivation on the Alb. Until the 1950s, the Swabian Jura and its surroundings were the centre of lentil cultivation in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. After that there was no lentil cultivation in this region anymore, it had become uneconomical. In 1985, the Biohof Mammel in

Lauterach Lauterach is a town in the district of Bregenz in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Honorary consulates of Finland, and the United Kingdom are located in Lauterach. The Lauterach Transmitter is a 116 m tall broadcasting facility. ...

started again with the cultivation of lentils.