Soya: more harm than good?

Is its versatility speeding up deforestation?

I gave up counting years ago how many times I'm asked 'what about the environmental impact of soya?' when people find out I'm a vegetarian. I understand why they ask- it's a hugely argued topic that just seems to cause more and more concern as we're encouraged to eat less and less meat. But if it's true that 90% of soya is used for animal production, then why are veggies and vegans always the first to get the blame?

It's true- soybean production is on the rise. Since the 1950s, it has increased 15 times over. Even if you don't think you're eating it, you probably are. It's in the obvious like soy sauce, tofu and some veggie burgers. But it's also in a lot of everyday foods that we consume without even realising. Around 27% of vegetable oil is made from soya, and it's also commonly found in many household staple like bread, ice cream and cereal.

According to WWF, soya production is the "second largest agricultural driver of deforestation worldwide." Around 80% of soya is produced in the United States, Argentina and Brazil which is then shipped across the globe. The destruction of places like the Amazon rainforest and the Northern Great Plains in the US causes wildlife to lose their natural habitats and accelerating climate change which leads to a plethora of problems. As well as the environmental impact, the soybean industry is causing the displacement of indigineous peoples. In some cases, they are even attacked and killed.

In 2006, a Soya Moratorium was put in place in Brazil. This agreement means that the companies that buy the majority of Brazilian-grown soya won't buy and that was grown on newly deforested land. They have also blacklisted any farmers they know use slave labour. In 2016, the moratorium was renewed indefinitely. Although successful to an extent, there are loopholes around the agreement which means that soya still causes deforestation in the Amazon. There are arguments that although soya isn't being grown on recently cleared land, it's being grown on older deforested land instead, whilst cattle are raised on the newer land. There is a cattle deforestation moratorium in Brazil as well, but the fact that cattle can be moved means it's harder to enforce.

There's conflicting statistics online, but it's general consensus is that around 75- 90% of soya is grown for animal feed. So even if you think choosing the meat or dairy option means you're avoiding soya, it's likely that you're actually doing the opposite. An article by New Scientist explains that for meat such as beef, the amount of soya we feed the animals is far more than the amount of meat we get from said animals. In fact, if we were to swap the meat we eat for soy products, deforestation required to provide us with the same amount of protein would decrease by 94%. I couldn't get my head around this to start with considering the UK seems to be filled with cows and sheep eating grass, but behind closed doors, soya is found in a lot of livestock's feed. So much so that the demand for soy in the EU uses 32 million acres of land in South America.

So, next time you reach for a the soya milk, don't feel guilty. The emissions, water and land space used are all significantly lower than dairy milk, so if you want to help the environment, choose a soya milk that's made using sustainable soya. Swapping meat and dairy for soya alternatives to fight deforestation caused by soya might sound counter-intuitive, but doing just that is the key if you want to help save the planet from the ever-increasing impacts of climate change.

Next week- coconuts: can we cope with increasing demands?