Soybeans, as unfamiliar as they are to most of us, make a daily appearance in our lives one way or another.Soybeans were given a bad reputation when consumers found out the fast food industry replaced part of the meat in its hamburgers with a soy protein. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) established guidelines for the application of soy proteins in meat products, most of the general consumers were upset since they felt they were being cheated and fed animal fodder – around 45 to 50 percent of the U.S. grown soybeans were used to feed livestock in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s when the scare occurred.
Luckily for soybean farmers today, there is less of a concern about soy being used in food unless one has an allergy to it. Not to mention that only 40 percent of production now goes to livestock, with a majority of that as waste products: e.g. ground meal or water with dissolved soy protein.
Today, soy can be found in almost any food you can name. Why not when you realize how beneficial and easily digestible it is? We grow up with it being added to our baby food. In adolescence, we consume a large amount in the multitude of snack foods and chocolate that we eat. Yes, soy lecithin is used as an emulsifier in chocolate.
As we continue to grow, it appears in our beers and ales and sure enough, when we get old it is found in our medicines as the powdery coating that helps us swallow those pesky prescriptions. We grow up and live our lives surrounded by this bean which many people fear for one reason or another, usually beacause it is “uncommon” or “unknown.” Actually, it is neither.
Soybeans originated in China. People in Asia have been growing, eating and using them for thousands of years. According to the American Soybean Association website http://soygrowers.com, in 2853 BC, Emperor Sheng-Nung of China named soybeans as one of the five sacred plants. It wasn’t until the early 1800s that soybeans made it to the Americas and only then as ballast or weights for the ships. It took almost another 79 years before farmers began to plant them as forage for their livestock. In 1904, George Washington Carver discovered the valuable source of protein and oil that these little green pods held.
Besides being in food, soybeans have a vast array of interesting if not amazing facts associated with them. Henry Ford once built an entire car out of plastic that was made from soybeans. For our agriculture majors out there, soybeans, when planted in rotation with other crops, can help extend the life of the fertile ground by replenishing the nitrogen in abused soil.
By now, you are probably wondering how much soy product you really consume. Or maybe you are worried that we can’t consume as much soybeans as the Asian countries since it is a part of their regular diet, right? Sorry, my friends, you are wrong. The United States is the No. 1 consumer of soybeans, consuming more than twice the amount of soybeans as the closet competition. China is fourth in consumption per year.
So the next time someone asks you what you would like to eat, just mention soybeans. Leave the window open for items such as grits, breads, cereals, cheeses, chopped meats, doughnuts, frozen dairy products like ice cream, powdered gravies, margarine, mayonnaise, noodles, batters for pancakes, coffee creamers, peanut butter (crunchy and creamy), salad dressings, sausage casings and even whipped dessert toppings. The products are endless and constantly growing, so say yes to soy.
