Soy kills animals and people!

Mother in Paraguay whose son died after being sprayed on a pesticide farm. Via Telegraph UK

Yes, it is true. Soy - particularly non-organic soy - kills animals and people. The following list details why. Click on the bullet point to link to an article providing more details.

1. Pesticides used on soy farms in the United States harm or kill wildlife.

2. Pesticides used on soy farms kill wildlife in other countries.

3. Pesticides used on soy farms kill children and people.

4. Soy production is a primary cause for destruction of the Amazon rainforest, the lungs of our planet. Aka, hundreds of thousands of species and millions upon millions of individual plants, animals and insects are killed for one crop. Actually, for 2 species - soy and cattle.

5. High doses of genetically modified soy may cause birth defects and miscarriage. This, however, is hard to truly know because there are no long term research studies into the impacts of genetically modified soy on human health.

6. One third of American agricultural land (78 million acres) are planted with soy, 90% of which is genetically modified. Genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered means that the gene from one species of life is artificially inserted in a lab into the genetic code of a totally different species. These species would not be able to breed in nature. Companies produce GM crops to do a variety of things - withstand frost, kill bugs, produce their own pesticides, be able to withstand spray pesticides, produce certain oils or vitamin profiles, etc. Plants, by nature, pollinate far and wide. If (for example) a plant that is designed to kill all the insects around it gets into the wild and breeds with wild plants, this could have a HUGE impact on our ecosystems. Again, there are no ecological impact studies done on this issue, nor were these studies conducted prior to planting GM soy on multi-millions of acres.

7. A large percent of the massive amount of soy produced goes to feed livestock for meat, leather and production of other products. According to Cornell University researchers, raising animals on soy (versus pasture raised animals) is enormously wasteful of resources.

8. Buying a soy product trickles back to the soy industry. To the company, it does not matter if you are buying soy in tofu or in the form of a chicken that was raised on GM soy.

Image via Challenge Oppression

Please do more research into these issues for yourself if you doubt the authenticity of this article. And consider this -- all processed, prepared, pre-packaged, and factory made foods contain soy and corn in them in some shape or form, particularly in the United States. Further, the booming biofuel industry also depends on soy and corn. A LOT of soy has to be grown in order to put soy in most foods and biofuels.

If you want to not destroy animals, rainforests, and the health of communities around the globe, stop eating and consuming soy as much as possible.

There are a few things you can do in this regard:

1. Stop eating and consuming soy products as much as possible. If you eat soy for dietary reasons, diversify and eat a variety of beans and legumes. Check out World's Healthiest Foods for profiles on protein, mineral, vitamin and other content in plant-based foods.

2. Always look at labels of things and don't eat/buy stuff with soy in it, particularly if it is not organic. This will be difficult at first, but with time you will probably be eating better than ever. If it is not organic, you can bet that it is pesticide ridden (might even be genetically modified to produce its own pesticides) and is definitely genetically modified.

3. Tell all your friends and family about these issues and to stop buying/using soy products. Contact your elected officials and say you do not want genetically modified crops planted, or at least that you want them labeled. Advocate for removal of government subsidies to giant agro-companies. Contact Cargill and other soy producing companies and tell them that you boycott their products until they remove themselves from rainforest nations.

What do you do with your money?

This is one of the most important questions any person interested in living better with other humans and our planet can consider.

Image via dpr-barcelona

Firstly, you may think 'a dollar is just a dollar' so therefore it doesn't matter what you spend it on.  But think of this - the population of the United States is roughly 307 million people. Target Corporation last year earned $67 billion. In the first 3 quarters of last year, BP earned $288.57 billion (this is less than its revenue for the year since 4th quarter was unavailable; also, BP is a global company but consider its revenue vs. a global population of 7 billion). A television star like Kim Kardashian earns $12 million per year. These individuals and companies don't earn this money out of thin air. They earn it because consumers (aka, YOU) spend money on their goods and services. 

Image via Treehugger

Regardless of how much a company gives to charity, corporate business managers (and reality TV stars) take home a LOT of money. This is at time a complex issue in terms of 'justness', given some of these companies' and individuals' impact on the Earth and the destruction their choices cause to others. 

It is also valuable to know where your money goes so that you don't end up funding a destructive production cycle for a product. For example, many people see bananas as healthy and so buy them. However, many companies that farm bananas slash rainforests to grow these fruits. Its the same situation with leather - Brazil is a top exporter of leather and cow meat, which is often grown on cattle farms in the Amazon that require those rainforests to be chopped down. Many times these farmers enslave laborers in debt bondage situations, where the laborer often cannot do much about their position since they are deep in the forest. These are just a couple of examples about how products you may buy fund a host of negative things in the world.

Image via Localblu.com

If you want more control over your money, your life, and the future of this planet, AND if you want to invest in your local community, consider shopping local or using things you can easily get for free from the world around you. An obvious example is shopping at your local farmer's market for groceries and soaps. You can get lemons from your neighbor's overburdened tree and use them to clean most of your home - kitchen counters, sinks, toilets, and diluted in water to clean the floor. You can move your money into a local credit union, many of which list the organizations and local businesses in which they invest on their website. You can support local vintage shops to buy your clothes. Take a walk through your neighborhood on a daily basis (if possible) for exercise and to check out what businesses are around that you can frequent.

If you want more suggestions or if you have a suggestion, feel free to leave a comment here. :)

Peace!

Nisha Namorando Vida
LTG Director/Founder

Postscript: If you take issue with this post or have a take on this in any way that you would like to publicly share, please post a comment! Dialogue = crucial.

Photo by Nisha Vida at: August Local to Global Event