A college student prepares a bowl of instant chicken Ramen noodles, a cornerstone of cash-strapped college cuisine. She decides to upgrade her meager meal to what she calls ‘poor-man’s pad thai’ by adding a dollop of peanut butter blended into the broth. As she eats her meal, she passes time reading the package ingredients, and learns that both the noodles and flavoring pack contain soy. She reads her peanut butter label, and discovers that it contains soybean oil. She looks at the label of the Campbell’s chicken noodle soup she had considered eating instead, and learns that it contains soy protein isolate. She looks further and discovers that the water-packed tuna she ate for lunch contains soy. The microwave popcorn she snacks on later as she studies into the late night contains—not surprisingly—soybean oil. Soy is ubiquitous and inescapable.
Soybeans, a protein-packed legume—considered by many as a health food and by others as a health threat—are produced and consumed worldwide by both humans and animals. Relatively little soybean production is used directly in food products for humans; most meal derived from soybeans is used for livestock and poultry feed, which then becomes meat that feeds people. Soybean oil is used in a variety of foods and products and in industrial applications as well.
Soybeans originated in China thousands of years ago, and were introduced to Europe and then to America in the 18th century, but it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that product proliferation and usage of soybeans increased rapidly, especially in the United States (U.S. Soybean Export Council 2011). This demand surge that began with WWII, generated by wartime demand for protein meal and oil worldwide, was further fueled by the post-war...
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Thoenes, P. Soybean International Commodity Profile. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006.
U.S. Soybean Export Council. "How the Global and Oilseed Trade Works." 2011, 5
Rendón, Dr. Oscar Hugo Pedraza. “Quality of the Avocado Exporting Companies to the United States of America,” World Avocado Congress. Abstracts A-48 V. 2003.
"On Food and History." 'On Food and History' N.p., 13 May 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
"If you read Wall Street’s reports, they don’t talk of soya bean as originating in China. They don’t talk of soya bean as soya bean. They talk of Monsanto soya. Monsanto soya is protected by a patent. It has a patent number. It is therefore treated as a creation of Monsanto, a product of Monsanto’s intelligence and innovation." – Vandana Shiva (Barsamian, 1997)
The process, considered genetic breeding, is much more precise than the regular breeding. While GMOs have been in food for 20 years, currently, the controversy over genetically engineered farms is larger than ever. 82% of Americans want GMOs labeled, but the majority fail to understand them (Swanson). 90% of all US grown corn, canola, soybeans, and sugar beets have DNA bits from the lab (Woolston). The United States is the top GMO growing country, with 70 million hectares of land dedicated to these farms.
To get his shoestrings he speculates in herds of cattle.” Thoreau could foresee the impact that altering the genes of these plants could have on a society. The most misleading hopes proclaimed by GM technology firms is that this will help solve the world’s hunger. Granted some of this technology does offer higher single crop yields, but traditional farming techniques generally produce higher yields per acre. In a study done on 8,200 fields, by The Board of Agriculture at the National Academy of Sciences former board of director, Charles Benbrook, Roundup Ready soybeans yielded fewer bushels of beans than non-GM. They grew five different strains of Monsanto soy plants in four different places with varied soil types The study found that the average yield for non-GM soybeans was 51.21 bushels per acre and 49.26 for GM. This was confirmed later in another study at the University of Nebraska 's Institute of Agricultural Resources. "The numbers were clear," stated Dr. Elmore, the head director of the study. They found that on average GM seeds, which are more expensive, produced six percent less than non-GM relatives, and eleven percent less than the highest yielding conventional crops. The yield for Bt corn, however, in other studies was higher. But this did not lead to greater profit because GM related costs in terms of insecticides, fertilizer and labor were
Coffee is a growing part of people’s daily lives. Just before the 9-5 weekdays, and even during the 9-5, it is common for the working class to drink a cup of coffee. To support this accustomed part of our culture, it involves a complex supply chain that allows those coffee beans to turn into a cup that can be consumed. This paper is structured on how Starbucks, the top coffee supplier in the world, can supply its stores, from raw materials to manufacturing, right to the start of someone’s day.
Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., Ogden, C. L., & Curtin, L. R. (2010). Prevalence and trends in obesity among U.S. adults, 1999-2008. Journal of Medical Association. 303, 235-241.
The combined factors surrounding both the Japanese diet and the typical American diet are reflected in the percentage of overweight people in each country; approximately 65% of people are overweight in the United States, while only 25% of Japan’s population is overweightii. These percentages are compiled from Body Mass Index (BMI) data, which is a scientifically formulated relation between a person’s weight and height that helps to determine a healthy weight range for a person to maintain. A person is classified as overweigh...
Corn is a high commodity in the U.S; our ham, eggs and pancakes for breakfast, California BLT at lunch, or double cheese hamburger for dinner were all produced with U.S. Cor...
Deal, Walter F., and Stephen L. Baird. “Genetically Modified Foods: A Growing Need.” Technology Teacher 62.7 (2003): 18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).
Metcalf, T., & Metcalf, G. (Eds.). (2008). Perspectives on Diseases and Disorders: Obesity. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Cengage Learning
n.d. 10 April 2014. Monsanto. The. Organic and Conventional Farming. n.d. 10 April 2014. Qaim, Matin.
"Monsanto uses patent law to control most of U.S. corn, soy seed market." Cleveland National News. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .
“Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.” ERS/USDA Data. Web. 12 May 2012. .