How Tofu and Other Soy Products Affect the Environment
If you’re wondering why soy is considered harmful to our planet, we’d like to let you know right away that it is not a problem caused by the production of soy-based products for human consumption! The amount of soy used in vegan products is negligible in comparison to the amount used for animal feed.
Almost 77% of the world’s soy supply goes to the animal agriculture industry; mainly to beef, dairy, and egg farms. The second biggest use for soy is the production of soybean oil, and in third place comes soy-based foods, including the ones vegans typically enjoy.
How Does Soy Harm The Environment?
The biggest issue with the soy industry today is the toll it’s had on protected forest areas over the past few decades. These include the Amazon Rainforest, the Cerrado, the Atlantic Forest, as well as African Savannahs, Central-Asian grasslands, and more.
“Increasing meat consumption is the main driver behind soy’s continuing expansion. Around three-quarters of soy worldwide is used for animal feed, especially for poultry and pigs.”
In addition to destroying animal habitats and causing extensive soil erosion, it’s also a major contributor to global warming. Turning forested areas into farmland generates plenty of CO2 emissions, and when it comes to soy, it requires large amounts of water, energy, and soil. Not to mention the amount of pesticides employed for its production, which contaminates our freshwater and soil!
How Can You Help?
If you are on a plant-based or vegan diet, you are already helping immensely! By decreasing the global demand for animal products like eggs, dairy, and beef, we can automatically decrease the need for such huge amounts of animal feed, which is typically based on corn, wheat, and/or soy.
So, even if this means switching from a beef burger to a soy burger, or from dairy milk to soy milk (find more vegan milk substitutes here), you’ll still be helping greatly to reduce the global demand for soy! Of course, there are also plenty of soy-free vegan substitutes. You can start swapping by checking out our vegan meat substitutes page and browsing the incredible plant-based alternatives available in 2021! Thanks for looking out for our planet and the animals. Good luck!
