Soy, the queen of all crops

Soy has deep roots in Asian history. According to Chinese tradition, soybeans were among the five sacred crops during the reign of Emperor Sheng-Nung, who mentions them in his manuscript from 2,838 BC. However, some historians date its systematic cultivation by Chinese farmers to around 300 BC. At that time, along with millet, it regularly appeared in Northern Chinese documents as one of the main agricultural crops. Over time, its cultivation spread to Southern China, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

The journey of soy to the Western world is not clearly mapped in history. There are several theories—one speaks of European sailors using soy plant sacks to transport goods from China, another attributes its spread to Chinese immigrants or European scientists who were so intrigued by this crop that they began to study it. In the Western world, including America, soy was initially considered more of a curiosity.

A pivotal moment in the history of soy came with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a pioneer of vegetarianism. Not only did he replace the traditional breakfast of eggs and bacon with cornflakes and granola, but in 1919, he published a significant work on the benefits of soy in the diet of diabetics. By the 1920s, he was already successfully trading the first soy products. Later, in collaboration with other vegetarian pioneers from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, he developed other innovative products, including soy-based meat alternatives.

Dr. A. H. Horvath, also known as the “Father of Soy,” also played an important role in spreading soy in America. His scientific work from 1931, Soy Flour as a National Food, and his efforts to include this legume among the major agricultural crops of the USA had remarkable results—within just 15 years, the area planted with soy increased by more than seventy-fold.