Easy & Tasty
Eco-nutrition Challenge!
Swap dairy produce for soya alternatives today and give yourself a pat on the back for almost completing the week!
Why?
Round off your Eco-Nutrition Challenge with an extra special effort to get soya into your diet! The environmental and health benefits of sustainable soya are numerous and it tastes great too. Soya has been eaten for thousands of years in Asia for its nutritional qualities and its levels of high-quality vegetable protein.
The soya plant is a pulse (other plants in the same family include peas and beans) that produces a pod, which usually contains three seeds or beans. These beans are soya beans. There are more than 100 different varieties, which can be distinguished by their size, colour, protein content and the consistency of their oil. The yellow-bean variety is most used, as it contains an optimum combination of protein, fat and taste. The supreme eco-friendly plant, soya improves the soil, protects the groundwater and forms nutrients in fewer than 100 days.
A global crop
Soya has been grown in the West since the early 20th century. All over the US, soya is now cultivated on a large scale. The EU produces more than 1,000,000 tonnes of soya a year. Having been consumed in Asia for 4,000 years, soya found its way into the Western diet some decades ago.
Delicious, nutritious and good for the planet
Soya is low in fat and full of soya goodness. Along with nuts, cereals, pulses, and beans, soya is a valuable source of protein for our bodies and an extremely versatile ingredient. There is an enormous range of soya products available, from drinks, alternatives to yogurts and desserts to meat alternatives such as tofu. The other great news about soya is that it also tastes good and can be used in cooking in all the ways that dairy can. It works equally well in sweet or savoury dishes.
Easy to buy
Soya is widely available and adding soya products to your weekly shop is straightforward. Most supermarkets stock sustainable soya-based products, making it effortless to incorporate vegetable protein into your diet.
But make sure you pick sustainable soya
Be careful, because not all soya is the same. Soya is one of the main crops grown for animal feed and the demand for greater yields has led to some producers sacrificing vast tracts of rainforest land to grow it and experiment with GMO techniques. Companies that are members of ENSA are committed to only using GMO-free soya that offers complete traceability. These producers refuse to buy from the commodity markets and buy directly from farmers, guaranteeing fair prices, demanding sustainable stewardship of farmland and never accepting soya that has been grown on cleared rainforest ground. International protocols are now in place to help protect these areas, with many companies refusing to buy anything grown on this precious land.
Healthy you, Healthy Planet Facts
- Dairy milk creates five times more CO2 per litre than soya milk (ENSA, July 2009).
- Many soya foods are low in fat, particularly saturated fat.
- Europeans eat too much saturated fat - the WHO recommends that saturated fat do not represent more than 10% of your calorie intake (about 20g per day) whereas the European Food Safety Agency recommend to reduce the consumption of saturated fat as much as possible.
- Soya protein can actually help to lower cholesterol. The Joint Health Claims Initiative approved a claim in 2002 based on the evidence of seven leading scientists, which states that the inclusion of at least 25g of soya protein a day as part of a diet low in saturated fat can help reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Healthy you, Healthy Planet Tips
- Why not try swapping the dairy milk in your tea and coffee for a soya drink alternative? If you haven’t tried soya drink in a while, prepare to be surprised.
- Try making a breakfast using soya drink where you would usually use dairy milk. It tastes great in tea, coffee and on cereal.
- Soya drink can also be used in any recipe for which you would normally use dairy.
- Check out our dessert recipes on www.weekofsoya.eu to see how easily soy drinks can be part of easy-to-prepare and tasty meals.