As the most ecologically efficient and economical source of complete
protein in human food, soy is gradually attracting more use in the
American diet for its nutritional and financial value. Derived from
soybean plants--the leading export crop of the United States and the
world's most traded crop--soy produced for human consumption is part of
a global enterprise affecting the likes of farmers, economists,
dieticians, and grocery shoppers. An international group of expert food
specialists--including an agricultural economist, an agricultural
sociologist, a former Peace Corps development expert, and numerous food
anthropologists and agricultural historians--discusses important issues
central to soy production and consumption: genetically engineered
soybeans, increasing soybean cultivation, soyfood marketing techniques,
the use of soybeans as an important soil restorative, and the rendering
of soybeans for human consumption.
Contributors are Katarzyna Cwiertka, Christine M. Du Bois, H. T. Huang,
Lawrence Kaplan, Jian-Hua Mao, Sidney W. Mintz, Akiko Moriya, Can Van
Nguyen, Donald Z. Osborn, Erino Ozeki, Myra Sidharta, Ivan Sergio Freire
de Sousa, Chee-Beng Tan, and Rita de Cássia Milagres Teixeira Vieira.