Grain legumes like lupin, pea and faba bean are disappearing from European landscapes. Zander et al. seeked why farmers are losing interest in cultivating legume crops. They found that unfavorable market conditions, failure to appreciate environmental benefits, changes in subsidy policies, disadvantageous trade agreements and some biological disadvantages that reduce the farm profitability are driving legumes out of the continent. The authors suggest introducing payments for ecosystem services, building awareness on the benefits of these crops among farming community, reforming trade policies, facilitating changes in consumption patterns, investing in research and developing new value chains to bring them back into European landscapes. This may restore the diversity of cropping systems, provide ecosystem services and reduce the European production deficit of plant proteins.