Evil evil soybeans?

[serafaery]

Was listening to our local alternative radio station this morning online, KBOO, and heard some people explaining that the Amazon rainforest is being leveled so they can grow more soybeans.

I am frighteningly ignorant about environmental effects of food consumption. I'm so overly sensitive to this stuff that I freak out at every tiny piece of bad news.

I already basically quit eating fast food and beef altogether because of the cow issue. Amazon rainforsts being destroyed for land for animals and feed for the meat industry. The King Corn movie helped reinforce the disgusting nature of the industrialized beef industry: pumping cows full of antibiotics because they live in such awful conditions and eat such nasty corn-feed that they all get sick and die without tons of drugs in their systems to fight off infection. So people can have $1 burgers. So gross. So totally unacceptable.

Anyway. I've already switched from palm oil based Smart Balance back to local butter, even though the organic stuff goes bad in the fridge really fast, after seeing palm oil trees devastating the riverbanks of the Yangtze in China for the purposes of providing Smart Balance.

So now I'm thinking of trying to go back to milk for my cereal. Local organic skim milk. Is that any better, environmentally? Would I get any vitamins at all from this? It's not very tasty on cereal, but I don't want to keep over-supporting the soy industry if it's destroying the last little threads of the shredded Amazon rainforests.

I have tried almond milk and it is more bitter than soy, and less nutrious, but an acceptable alternative. Where do the almonds come from? Riverbanks in China?

Hemp is also devoid of nutrition and tastes weird, but is tolerable, especially when flavored, and at least has lots of omega 3s. I know hemp is very sustainable and environmentally friendly as a crop.

Vegans, where are you when I need you. Herlp.

I need someone told hold my hand through New Seasons and tell me exactly what I can and can't buy and what harm is being caused or not caused by what I'm doing. Including the packaging and shipping. I would pay money for this. srsly.

Comments

[windfaerie.livejournal.com]

I had trouble with regular, unsweetened almond milk but have now found a brand that is slightly sweetened and enriched w/ vitamins - yum! It actually has less sugar than 1% milk, even sweetened! It's called "Almond Breeze - original flavor" The almonds are all grown in California.

[windfaerie.livejournal.com]

Also - I think we're on the same page, nutrition-wise. I don't eat beef or soy for the same reasons! Soy can also mimic estrogen which is a problem if you have "girl" issues like me. It's hard but you do get used to it. I eat a lot of noodles, especially soba noodles. Also lots of avocado and tomatoes. For protein we usually stock up on free-range, organic chicken when it's on sale but aside from that most of our protein comes from beans and pasta.

[windfaerie.livejournal.com]

Also also! Chez Gourmet brand makes really yummy veggie burgers, most flavors are soy-free! They even carry them at Freddie's and they go on sale pretty regularly.

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Almond Breeze and non-soy veggie burgers, yay! Thank you! :D This is very helpful. It's so nice to hear that other people have similar issues, and to learn how they deal with it.

[windfaerie.livejournal.com]

Np! What's funny is that they don't sell almond breeze at New Seasons. It is 900 times tastier than the brand they sell!

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

They're very responsive to comment cards. I shall fill one out for Almond Breeze next time I'm there. :)

[desultorie.livejournal.com]

Unfermented soy is bad for you & the environment for lots of reasons. It causes cancer, is subsidized like corn, and is in almost everything now. I avoid it as much as possible. I recommend sweetened vanilla almond or hemp milk.

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Ucky soy! :(

[listme.livejournal.com]

i remember looking up where the almonds are grown when i was first introduced to almond milk, and i'm pretty sure the bulk of them are grown in california...

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

California is just down the road! ;)

[bunnyhero.livejournal.com]

it's tough isn't it? i eat a lot of soy products but i too am thinking of cutting down. i haven't tried almond milk.

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

I am glad I'm not the only one who thinks so! I get so confused when it comes to food. :( It seems like one cannot exist in a developed Western country without constantly doing global damage. Sigh.

[ghost-nymph.livejournal.com]

I didn't know soybeans were causing environmental damage...that makes me upset. :( seems like nothing is safe to eat. I can't stand normal milk though, and with allergy to nuts can't do almond milk... tried rice milk for awhile but there's less protein in it... wish I knew what else to suggest... :\

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

I wish it wasn't so tricky to be healthy and environmentally conscious. So tired of the guilt! Can I just eat something without wondering what kind of cancer it's giving me or how many polar bears were killed in the process of getting it in my hands? Sigh.

*hugshugs* Rice milk is watery and weird. But maybe I will try it again. Hemp milk is oily and strange but maybe I should try another flavor or brand. Hmmmm.

[anthalus.livejournal.com]

Hard to say what damage is being done, as soybean plants do control erosion and swap CO2 for Oxygen just like trees do. The real blame is to be put squarely on the US and its subsidies. In the 80s the US produced 80% of the world's soybeans...now barely 30%. China is the #1 importer of soybeans and products, we owe them tons of money, and yet we pay farmers not to grow soybeans.

Why? Big Oil. Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay are now not only the top exporters to China, but they are substituting soy oil for gasoline.

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

ARGH everything is evil!

[kittybean.livejournal.com]

say what!? i love soy. :(

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

I know! Here I thought I was being all good and everything. Fucking sux dood! :(

Sort of excited to try new stuff though. New stuff is good sometimes. Maybe I'll find something I like even better than soy?

Stupid soy, heh.

[woolly-socks.livejournal.com]

I would have thought that local, organic milk is much better environmentally. It's supporting the cow thing but locally, right?

And from what I know, raw milk is really nutritious. I don't know about just organic but still pasteurised milk.

I used diluted low fat coconut milk on my cereal for a while. It was surprisingly nice. But that stuff gets shipped from the Pacific Islands, mostly. Well here it does, don't know about over there. And the Islands are mostly closer to us, of course.