Soy, reassessed

A blogger cuts back

By Kim Carlson

February 17, 2009

One day recently, Rachel Balik, a vegan blogger over at Civil Eats, found herself eating a dinner of edamame, soy cheese, and a soy-based veggie burger.

“Wow,” said her roommate. “Everything you’re eating is made from soy.”

This statement jarred Balik, pushing her to research the facts and rumors about soy.

One reason Balik is a vegan is to reduce her carbon footprint, so she was disappointed to learn that soy’s not helping as much as she might wish, and in fact, in some places — the Amazon, for one, where deforestation takes place to make room for soy — it may actually be causing more harm.

And soy grown in the U.S. is often a heavily sprayed monocrop grown from GMO seeds.

The upshot? Balik is cutting the amount of soy she eats, and being particular about the soy she does have in her diet:

Buying soy locally, and eating it in moderation (like they do in Asia, where soy-based food is most popular), and you will be greener and healthier to boot.