Soya and the Environment

Some people attempt to condemn soya by citing the environmental impact soya farming is having on the Amazonian rain forest.  They are quite right to be concerned, but people eating soya is not the problem; 80 per cent of the world's soya production is fed to livestock so that people can eat meat and dairy foods.

Greenpeace, 2006. Eating up the Amazon.
Available here.
Find out more here.

The environmental impact of animal farming is detrimental for other reasons too; not just deforestation but water consumption too.  An enormous amount of the world's water is used up in farming livestock: producing just eight ounces of beef requires 25,000 litres of water.  Furthermore livestock farming uses more fossil fuel than crops: a calorie of beef takes 33 per cent more fossil fuel to produce than a calorie of energy from potatoes does.

Millstone, E., and Lang, T. 2003. The Penguin Atlas of Food: Who eats what, where and why? London: Penguin Books.

The European Fat Processors and Renderers Association, which has been lobbying the EU, has argued that the fall in BSE means safe reintroduction of animal proteins is now possible. In other words, they want to resume feeding herbivorous cows with animal products – this unnatural practise is thought to be how BSE developed in the first place! They further claim that Europe has to import 3.3 billion tonnes of soya beans from Brazil to feed the animals, calling for 20,000 km2 of agricultural land for cultivation to replace these animal proteins, this puts the total cost of the feed ban at close to €6bn. The obvious solution for the planet, the animals and your health is to go veggie!

Keren Sall, 2007. Feed issue sparks hot debate. Meat Trades Journal. June 8 2007. p1.

Resources:

The Safety of Soya
Read our fully-referenced soya fact sheet
Download the pdf

Soya-Based Infant Formula
A safe alternative to cow's milk formula
Download the pdf

The Soya Saga
Should we be running scared or welcoming this little bean into our hearts and stew pots?
Read this article on soya from VeggieHealth issue 4

Myth-Busting
The VVF examines the soya scare-mongering stories and investigates what, if any, scientific basis there is behind them

Soya and the Environment
Soya farming is devastating the Amazon, but where does all the soya go? It's not for human consumption…

FAQs
What worries you most? Read some of our most frequently asked nutritional enquiries

Soya research
Read the scientific evidence for yourself…