April is National Soy Month, making it a good time to explore and celebrate the versatile uses of the soybean. Many foods are derived from soybeans, including soy milk, miso paste, tempeh, tofu and edamame. Although the United States is the world’s top soybean producer, the largest soybean farm, Bon Futaru, is located in Brazil — and has 555,000 acres of soybeans. From edible products to other uses, the small but powerful soybean has a lot to offer. Here are five interesting things you didn’t know about soy.
Soybeans are part of the legume family, as are peas, lentils and beans. Believed to have first been cultivated domestically in ancient China, soybeans were used for thousands of years in Asia before making their way to America in 1804. By the mid-1900s, they were an important part of farming in the Midwest and South. The soybean plant can reach heights of ...
