Not all soya is the same

Much has been written and broadcast about evil soya barons. Clearing and burning their way through the Amazon rainforest to create vast, unsustainable plantations. But not all soya is the same. It is possible to choose soya products where the beans used are guaranteed to be sustainable, GM-free and grown thousands of miles away from the Amazon.

The secret is in the sourcing. Unlike most soya companies, some ethical natural soya producers choose not to buy their soya beans on the commodity market, where beans from various places and producers are mixed together and traded. Instead they have long term relationships with farms: they know how the soya beans are grown and where. It’s important that there are sustainable soya products widely available, because soya could help save the planet. A bold claim. But don’t just take our word for it. The Nobel prize-winning chairman of the UN International Panel on Climate Change, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, agrees.

It’s important that there are sustainable soya products widely available, because the message of Natural Soya is that soya can help save the planet. A bold claim. But don’t just take our word for it. The Nobel prize-winning chairman of the UN International Panel on Climate Change, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, agrees.

“There is a large scope to reduce the share of animal products in modern diets, and to replace them with plant-based alternatives such as soy products. This would bring numerous benefits for human health and for the environment.”

Demand for food will keep on increasing. It is estimated that by 2030, we would need two planets to meet worldwide consumer demand if current population and dietary trends continue . The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation predicts that both meat and milk consumption will double between 2000 and 2050. And the more animal products we consume, the bigger the impact on the environment.

Because soya products are of vegetable origin, they have a lower environmental impact than comparable meat and dairy products. Natural soya products are more sustainable in terms of land use, water use and greenhouse gas emissions. Recent research showed that it requires three times less land to produce one litre of soya milk than one litre of dairy milk. Producing one kilogram of meat requires six times more land and eight times more water than one kilo of tofu (the soya based meat replacer).

When it comes to CO2 emissions, new research shows that producing one litre of soya milk creates five times less greenhouse gases than one litre of cow’s milk3. Again, the ratio increases to 12 when you compare meat and tofu.

That’s why substituting dairy and meat products with sustainable soya makes sense. It doesn’t have to be a complete switch to make a positive difference. Just as you might choose to cycle on occasions instead of taking the car, decide to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs or choose to wash your clothes at 30°C instead of 90°C, so you can simply decide to eat soya foods more often. By switching to a vegetarian diet one day per week or by trying our ethical breakfast plan, you can contribute to the protection of the environment and natural resources in a very effective way.

1. WWF 2008Living Planet Report, World Wide Fund For Nature, 2008
2. Blonk, Milieueffecten NL consumptie van eiwitrijke producten, 30th October 2008
3. Ecofys/Alpro calculations, July 2009

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