It’s all about raising awareness of soy foods to increase the value for soybean producers. That’s why your soybean checkoffs are spreading the word about including soy in your diet.
“The soybean can do a lot of things. One of the things it can do is feed us as humans,” says Sarah Alsager, Director of Communications and Outreach for SNI Global, which was founded as the Soy Nutrition Institute in 2004 by the United Soybean Board.
SNI Global and the Indiana Soybean Alliance recently hosted a workshop for dietitians on the value of including soy in their dishes.
“That’s not a use of soy that may be familiar to a lot of people, but soy protein and soybean oil are great options to add to your diet,” says Alsager. “Soy protein is a high-quality protein comparable to animal protein, so if you’re looking for ways to add more plant protein to your diet, or share the plate between animal and plant protein, soy is an excellent choice.”
Alsager says that soy foods are not in competition with beef, pork, and poultry. Instead, she says meat and soy products work well together on the same plate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“A lot of the consumer market research that we’ve seen shows that consumers are not reducing their animal protein intake—they’re simply increasing their plant protein intake, so if someone’s going to choose plant protein we want them to choose soy protein.”
Alsager says it’s a win-win for both consumers and soybean producers. By adding more soy protein to your diet, it makes the soybeans grown right here in Indiana by Hoosier soybean producers more valuable.
“Our goal really is to remove any barriers for soybean farmers to sell their product to the market,” says Alsager. “One of those markets is human consumption. As more and more companies are considering putting a plant protein in their ingredient list, we wanted to use soy protein isolate or concentrated sources of soy protein. I think that’s really our goal to enhance the farmer’s livelihood.”
For more information, including soy recipes, visit sniglobal.org.
You can also learn more at indianasoybean.com.
Click below to listen to C.J. Miller’s radio news report for Hoosier Ag Today.
