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The soybean is a legume native to China. For 5000 years, China has been using soybeans as a source of food and medicine. As one of the five sacred grains in China, soybeans were extensively cultivated and highly valued. In the eighteenth century, soybeans were introduced in Europe for the first time and were regarded merely as an object of botanical curiosity. It was only in the 1930's when the United States began exploring and developing soybean varieties through hybridization. Today, as a main source of protein, soybeans are a regular component of human diet in countries such as China, Japan and Indonesia.
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Many countries around the world produce as well as consume soybeans for different reasons. In Asia, the soybean is grown chiefly for the beans, which is consumed fresh, fermented, or dried. As a source of protein and oil, soybean milk is made with the whole soybeans. Bean curd is made from soymilk and tofu is seasoned or cooked together with other dishes. In the West, soybeans are produced primarily for the soybean meal used as livestock feed. As more investigative results of research have unveiled the health benefits of soybean food products, soy foods are gaining more popularity as a health product.
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Soy has been available for more than two decades in health food stores, specialty markets and restaurants that serve healthy, hot meals. But now it's poised to become the food of the next millennium, available soon in nearly everything, everywhere. Some people believe the soy protein business will triple over the next two years because of the FDA announcement (The FDA is now letting companies advertise a connection between soy protein and a healthy heart, and it is sure to mean healthy profits).
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Today the one-billion-dollar-a-year soybean business is dominated by companies that produce soy burgers, soymilk and tofu, but the future is in new products like soy pizza, soy peanut butter, even soy breakfast cereal. But experience has shown that unless healthy food tastes good, it fails in the marketplace. And many consumers consider the taste of soy, in this case tofu, bland or at best, bean-like. In Boca Burger in Chicago they won't say how they make their soy burgers taste like meat, but they're convincing enough to be featured in school cafeterias and fast food restaurants.