Why Should You Use Soy Protein? #8. Environmental Considerations Some people object to soy because it has become a leading example of industrial food production around the world. The U.S. alone produces some 70-80 million acres of soybeans each year. This production embraces principles of the Green Revolution, namely monoculture, extensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified hybrids, high inputs of fossil fuels, poor land use practices leading to erosion, enormous government subsidies, and more. In short, soybeans are not being cultivated in a sustainable way, and this imposes an enormous burden on our environment. Unfortunately, most of our basic foods stuffs (corn, wheat, rice, beef, chicken, milk, fish) are being produced and harvested in largely unsustainable ways. The problem lies with our “broken” approach to agriculture and food production in general. It is not an inherent feature of soy. In fact, soy carries a number of advantages that greatly reduce its environmental impact as a source of protein. These advantages, in turn, mean that soy, when consumed is as part of a balanced diet, can help to reduce the collective environmental impact of human diets. Such advantages include the following. Soybean plants fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and require little (if any) nitrogen fertilizer. In addition, by alternating soybeans with corn and other crops on a given piece of land, soy production can reduce the amounts of nitrogen fertilizer needed by those alternating crops. Soy offers a primary plant-based source of protein that is complete, balanced, and as nutritionally rich as most animal proteins - and it does this at a fraction of the environmental cost. Consider that a very high percentage of the corn and soybeans produced in theU.S. each year are fed to cattle, pigs, and chickens, and that the conversion of these grains into meat is inefficient. In fact, it requires 20 pounds of corn and soybeans to produce a single pound of beef. In comparison, it requires 4.5 pounds to produce a pound of chicken meat and 7.3 pounds to produce a pound of pork. All in all, given the above factors, soy protein on a pound-for-pound basis carries an environmental cost that is only 10-20% that of a comparable pound of animal or dairy protein. Clearly, including soy as a significant source of our dietary protein helps us to eat lower on the food chain and reduce our dietary environmental impact.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 23:48:13 +0000
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