Soy

Soy bean is much more than soya sauce. It is a cheap source of protein for many prepackaged meals. Is also the second largest provider of vegetable oil in the world. It is classified by FAO as an oil, rather than a pulse - which it could do - as it is a legume. Soya is also a major animal feed - particularly now for pigs in China. Soybean products such as textured vegetable protein (TVP) are ingredients in many meat and dairy analogues. Soybeans produce significantly more protein per acre than most other uses of land.

Traditional non-fermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, and from this tofu. Fermented foods include soy sauce, fermented bean paste,natto, and tempeh, among others. The oil is used in many industrial applications and is common in ultra-processed foods.

The main producers of soy are the United States (36%), Brazil (36%), & Argentina (18%). Growth of the crop has increased dramatically in Brazil in last few years - for export to China. So much so there was a major bottleneck in 2013 The soy goes to feed pigs see Empire of the Pigs

Which is somewhat ironic.. As guess where soya originated? Again on the other side of the world from which it is is grown mainly now - the Orient

It travelled from there through Thailand and India along the Silk Road, where it was generally a bit of a novelty and grown in gardens.

Soy was bought to America by Dutch from Indonesia in the mid 1800s and used as a hay food for their animals. But it didn't take off till early 20th century.

Soy is the main ingredient in many Ultra-processed foods

Flaking and Oil Extraction:

Cracked beans are then conditioned and rolled into flakes.
Oil is removed from the flakes using a solvent wash, and the oil is then separated from the solvent mixture.

Soy Meal and Further Processing:

The remaining soy meal, which is high in protein and fibre, can be used for various purposes.
Some of the soy meal is used for animal feed, while the rest can be used to make soy foods like tofu and soy milk.

Now, staggering amounts are being exported from Brazil to China, in what is one of main eating trends int he world at the moment which change the food and farm dynamics across the world. It is part of the Chinese governments' will to deed their people (they still remember the appalling starvation of 40 million people under Mao in the early 1960s). Many see this as part of an ever more demanding middle class in China wanting to eat meat. But it is as significant to feed the many (120 Million) new workers arriving from the fields to the factories, as cheaply as possible. That is part of how China can keep its costs of production down. China imports $24b from US.

Due to the trade war ( 2019) between US and themselves, China is buying much more soy from Brazil In mid 1970s Nixon shut off soy export, and this " inspired the Japanese to go look for somebody else and created the Brazilian soybean industry. Brazil nearly tripled its soybean production over the next decade, and growth continued as Japan made financial investments to help turn Brazil's wooded grasslands into a suitable place to grow soybeans -- a move that also accelerated deforestation in the country." Brazil can't meet all the soybean demand in China, which typically buys a majority of the world's production. But Argentina, India and Russia could be other options if relations with the US don't improve.

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