Many of us choose vegan and vegetarian lifestyles with an eye toward better health for ourselves and for our planet. Soy products are a staple in many of these diets, and soy is increasingly making its way into a number of processed foods. If you drink coffee containing nondairy creamer, for example, you are probably consuming soy, and if you eat non-organic meat, you are eating an animal that probably ate hundreds or thousands of pounds of soy throughout its lifetime. Snack foods are often fried in oils containing part soy oil, and oils labeled as vegetable oils often contain some soy. This nutritious and useful plant is making its way into cosmetics and other products, and most of us use it in some form or another almost every day. What you might not know is that the soy products you are using could be harmful to the planet. We'll take a closer look at this problem and discuss some ways to ensure you choose sustainable soy products.
Soy Production, Rainforests, and the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone
Soy, rainforest ecosystems, and the massive algal blooms which have led to an enormous dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico are inextricably intertwined. While soy is grown throughout the world, and while it has long been a popular crop, not just for its use as food and other products for humans and for animals, but for its usefulness as a biofuel and and for its nitrogen fixing properties which benefit soil, massive agribusinesses have managed to make modern soy production a problem for the environment at large.
In part, unsustainable soy is a problem because rainforests are cleared to make way for fields of genetically modified soy. These fields are heavily fertilized with chemicals, including nitrogen and phosphorous, which run off into the Amazon, which in turn runs into the ocean, creating a huge dead zone nearly devoid of marine life. In the Midwestern United States, many soy crops are equally irresponsible, and in places like China and India, where many people rely on soy protein, farming practices are causing similar problems and contributing to ocean dead zones.
Human rights issues are also central to the question of soy sustainability; for example, child and slave labor are issues, and so are unsafe working conditions.
Deforestation, loss of habitat, and loss of species we might never have named are issues you shouldn't have to worry about when selecting healthy foods and other products. Neither should you be forced to worry about genetically modified foods intruding on your healthy lifestyle. By choosing sustainably produced soy products, which are organically produced without the use of harmful chemicals, and which actually improve the livelihoods of the people working to produce them, you can enjoy products that are beneficial to your health and beneficial to the environment, as well.
Look for Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) certified soy products when shopping, and before you buy your favorite soy products, do your homework in order to find out how and where these products were grown. In many cases, producers use deceptive labeling in an attempt to make shoppers believe that they are making a responsible choice, when in fact, the opposite is actually true.
By learning more about the products you choose to consume, you can make an informed decision. Share what you learn, and you'll be doing the planet - and all who inhabit it - a favor.