30/09/2022
GoodDot Two sides of Soya Crop,
Cons-
Since soy requires a lot of water to grow (requiring nearly 300L of water to produce 1L of soy milk), unsustainable water use exhausts natural underground water stores. On top of which, farming vehicles like tractors compact the earth over time, preventing water from being reabsorbed back into these stores. The result: rapidly declining water availability for local communities, flora and fauna.
Pro-
COULD SOY BE A SOLUTION?
Ironically, embracing soy as a protein substitute could be key to the solution. Soy, when consumed directly by people (rather than filtered through livestock food-chains) is incredibly land-efficient. To paint a picture: producing the same amount of protein from chicken as soy requires 3 times the area of land, pork 9 times, and beef – 32 times. In fact, in regards to protein intake, if the world were to swap meat protein for soy protein, agricultural deforestation would decline by as much as 94%.21
In other words, reducing our dependence on animal products by increasing our consumption of soy-based alternatives would help us feed more people while using dramatically less land, and protect the planet in the process. But harnessing the innate sustainability of soy hinges on one crucial condition – that it is eaten by people, not livestock.
As we've seen, each time we eat animal products we become accountable for environmental damage twofold: both directly from the negative impacts associated with animal agriculture, and indirectly through driving demand for soy as a feed-crop. With this in mind, choosing plant-based alternatives like soy will almost always be more sustainable than eating the equivalent in animal products – so don’t go denouncing soy products altogether. However, eating soy foods can be even more environmentally friendly when done alongside the following:
Reducing Animal-Product Consumption: the most direct way to reduce soy-related environmental damage is to reduce our consumption of animal products. For example, a report by the WWF found that if everyone reduced their meat consumption to just the nutritional guidelines, 650 million hectares – or 1.5 times the area of the EU, would be saved from agricultural production.4
Buying Local: most of the soy we eat is imported from abroad, which contributes to carbon emissions. Where possible, try to source soy products from local producers to reduce air miles. However, it’s important to be mindful of how your local soy is being grown – in some cases, research has shown that crops grown locally in heated greenhouses with artificial lighting can create more CO2 than crops that are grown outside and transported.22
Buying Organic: when buying local isn’t an option, opt for organic produce. Organic produce (under EU standards) avoids chemical fertilisers and pesticides, reducing the amount of environmental damage caused by production. Companies such as Tofurei, Taifun, Tofu and Tofoo make organic soy products, while distributors like Infinity Foods, Suma and Essential are great places to source organic, sustainable soy products.
When eating out;I prefer eating soya chaap over paneer tikka these days as paneer demand > paneer production leading to adulteration in paneer; though ethical dairy owners add Soya as an additive to meet the demand; the toxic cheap ones are the ones you need to beware of.
Is soy bad for the environment? Produced on a colossal international scale, soy has a huge environmental impact – but probably not for the reasons you think. Read on to discover more.
