Tackling Tofu
This article was written by a guest contributor, Osamu Tsuda. Read about Osamu here.
It is well known that eating less meat reduces our individual carbon footprint.
We all probably know someone, if not ourselves, who has significantly reduced or even eliminated their consumption of meat altogether. Some may have done so because of the inhumane practices of industrial meat production, others, to reduce their carbon footprint, and others still for health-related reasons. For those meat-loving individuals, however, giving up this source of protein can be really hard, especially when we often hear that the only viable alternative is beans! In fact, a study published in October 2019 by UCLA psychologists found that taste and wellbeing are major concerns to meat-eaters when deciding whether to become vegetarian or even vegan. Results of this study found that meat-eaters believed a vegetarian diet would be less tasty, less healthy, and more expensive than a meat-containing diet.
And much of this is true... to an extent. Though there are plenty of creative recipes that are vegetarian or vegan that also promote tasty, healthy eating, the transition to this kind of eating can be particularly challenging when considering the extra commitment one needs to cook a decent, well-rounded vegetarian or vegan meal, especially for those brought up in a meat-centric culture. While we can certainly acknowledge that there are companies trying to create convincing meat alternatives out of vegetable protein, there are still doubts regarding the environmental costs of producing these meat alternatives. This combination of unclear alternatives and a steep learning curve can leave many even less convinced that veganism or vegetarianism is right for them.
So, what does this mean for those who want to cut down on their meat consumption without having to sacrifice good-tasting food? Given it can be particularly hard in much of the US where meat still plays a big role in our food culture, I myself have found it difficult to cut down on meat consumption. However, there are also many exciting dishes that use non-meat-based protein and can be enjoyed by a diverse crowd. Many of these dishes use tofu, which has become the primary non-meat alternative across the world.
To start off, let’s examine the main ingredient that makes tofu, that is, the soybean.
https://www.cropprophet.com/top-10-global-soybean-producers/
Tofu itself is made from soya beans. According to the United Nations, as of 2016, soya beans are the fourth most produced crop in the world, after rice, corn, and wheat. While many of these soybeans are consumed by those in Asian countries like China, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand, nearly 80% of all soybeans are actually produced in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina. Additionally, of all soybeans produced, only around 20% of them are actually consumed by humans directly, most of which happens via soy-based products like tofu and soy milk. The remaining 80% of them are used for indirect consumption, such as animal feed for meat production. This indirect consumption actually comes at a huge cost. For every 10 calories of meat we consume, the animal itself needed to consume 100 calories worth of soybeans. This fact alone presents meat consumption as a far less sustainable option than tofu consumption. But what about the sustainability of soybeans consumed by humans? Surely if everyone were to just switch to eating soybeans, the carbon footprint of directly consumed soy would just increase?
Disregarding where soybeans go after production, it can be useful to understand the sustainability of this bean production across the world. While production methods can vary widely from country to country, most conventional soy is produced using very unsustainable methods that can cause major environmental issues. These issues can affect not just surrounding local communities, but larger ecosystems in their respective regions as well. In Brazil, for example, soy production has resulted in major deforestation and the subsequent loss of wildlife habitats in the Amazon and Cerrado rainforests. Cascading effects from this include soil erosion, degradation of water quality from agricultural runoff, and declines in the health of whole ecosystems. The expansion of soybean farms has also led to the seizing of indigenous people’s land and the subsequent displacement of entire indigenous communities. While organizations like the World Wildlife Fund have been working with countries and organizations to improve soy production through policy development, and increasing regulations on the industry, these efforts are difficult to implement when the main priority of many soybean-producing countries is to lower the cost of production by any means necessary. Thus, with such unsustainable soy production, even by hypothetically switching everyone to consuming tofu, while GHG emissions might decrease, the long-term effect on the overall environment is not as positive as most would imagine.
Many soy products use unsustainably grown beans.
https://ourworldindata.org/soy
For example, many of the tofu brands you see at the store often use soybeans that are genetically modified. That is, while there are over 200 different known species of soybeans, the species used for cheap tofu production are typically those that have been genetically modified to be durable and long-lasting. It is important to note that, according to Yale School of Environment, the mass production of tofu only began 40 years ago, and the industrialization of it has been a leading cause of the aforementioned increases in unsustainable land use and agricultural practices.
So what can be done about this worsening problem? How can we, the consumers, support producers who are doing right by the environment?
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Of course, if one was so committed to this effort, they could make their own tofu and grow their own soybeans…but that is WAY too much work for the average person and even requires special tools to get started. A more reasonable approach might be instead to check out the soy product scorecard developed by the Cornucopia Institute here: https://www.cornucopia.org/scorecard/soy/. This scorecard gives an overall sustainability score for well-known soy brands. By sticking to brands that are organic and sourced from farms that practice sustainable agriculture, you can be assured that you are reducing your carbon footprint, and helping push the soy industry in a positive direction.
In short, if you are looking to save the environment by not eating meat, unfortunately, the answer is not that straightforward. If you just want to reduce your GHG emissions, then simply eating less meat can drastically reduce your overall footprint. However, if your goal is to become a more sustainable consumer, other factors, such as non-meat protein origin and production methods also need to be accounted for. According to the BBC food impact scorecard, switching to sustainably sourced non-meat alternatives can result in as much as a 90% reduction in the GHG emissions embodied in your food, when compared to beef and other red meats. The impact scores of Low, Medium, and High, are ranked based on how sustainably the foods were raised/grown. The tool even shows how large the difference can be when you make efforts to source animal products more sustainably, notably illustrating how the average conventionally raised beef produces approximately 15kgs of GHG emissions per average serving, compared to less than 5kgs for sustainably raised beef.
So now that we know how to source our tofu and other soy-based proteins in a way that both optimizes our protein consumption and our environmental impact, you might be wondering about the different ways you can enjoy tofu. Here are some recipes to get you started!