Good Morning
What we’re reading this week:
Streamlined Transmission Permitting is Coming! (LM)
The Bay Area has worse air than LA? Here’s why… (SFC)
The Greendicator
Top Deals of the Week
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Arbol, a parametric climate insurance provider with a global footprint, raised a $60M series B round, co-led by Giant Ventures and Opera Tech Ventures (PR)
Chemix, a self-driving lab for the development of EV batteries, raised a $20M Series A led by Ibex Investors (VC)
Carbonfact, a French carbon accounting startup for the fashion industry, raised a $14M round from investors led by Alven (TC)
Curio, a startup recycling nuclear waste, raised a $14M seed round led by Synergos (VC)
X Shore, an electric boat startup, secured approximately $9.1M in funding from existing investors (SC)
Texture, a data collection and sharing platform for renewable energy, raised a $7.5M seed round from Abstract Ventures, Day One Ventures, Equal Ventures, and more (TC)
Aquabattery, a climate tech startup developing a saltwater LDES solution, raised a $6.6M seed round led by EIT InnoEnergy (FN)
Accacia, a decarbonization platform for real estate and infrastructure sectors, raised a $6.5M pre-Series A round led by Illuminate Financial (BW)
Bioform Technologies, a Canadian startup developing bio-based plastic alternatives, raised a $5M seed round from Suzano Ventures (BW)
Radical, a high-altitude solar-powered aircraft maker, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Scout Ventures (FN)
Edonia, a startup creating protein ingredients from microalgae, raised a $2.1M round led by Asterion Ventures (TC)
SustainAble Exchange, a sustainable commerce platform, raised a $2M seed round led by Jeff Hallstead (PRN)
Green Theory
Bad Edamamemes: Mythbusting Soy
Soybeans bring delight to many—vegetarians especially—but decades of pseudoscience and misplaced backlash against genetically modified monocrop agriculture have held back this exceptional source of vegan nutrition.
Soy agriculture
Soybean cultivation occupies 13% of all cropland, or 1.34 million square kilometers, between the sizes of Mongolia and Peru. To scale this effort down to the per-human level, each person on earth would be responsible for an 1,800 square-foot plot of soy.
Soybeans humbly perform some of the heaviest lifting in global food systems, but 3 quarters go to feeding animals, and only one fifth feeds humans directly. For this reason, the accusation that demand for veg foods will destroy the rainforest points its finger at the wrong culprit. Cows and fish consume more soy than humans, and chickens and pigs are fed 5x and 3x the human total, respectively.
Organizations have attempted to establish more protections against Amazon deforestation in relation to all agricultural expansion, but many of these efforts have since been revealed to merely displace deforestation to elsewhere, over the past two decades. More work is left to do in protecting the biodiversity of life on earth from our wastefully pursued appetites, but soy milk drinkers are clearly not the architects of rainforest devastation.
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Others reject soy foods due to the prevalence of genetically modified soybeans, and ruthless practices toward the land, deforested or not. While it’s true over 5 in 6 global soybean acres are genetically modified (19 in 20 in the US, which makes up a third of the total), organic soy milks and tofu still offer a non-GMO option for US consumers.
Looking at how little soy is sold directly to humans, it’s clear how much room for organic practices exists in the human-specific category. For tofu, at least a quarter of the global product is made of organic, non-GMO soybeans.
Soy’s real threats
If you’re comfortable with soy’s place in the global food production network, you may still be worried about phytoestrogen, which is found in soy due to the high concentration of isoflavones. While these compounds do interact with our hormonal systems, plant hormones are far weaker and fundamentally different than human ones. Generally, the quantities are so low as to show no interaction, or even the opposite of what one might expect.
A large body of work has attempted to isolate the complex interactions of soy on the body—over the last few decades, especially—but diet studies are difficult to control. The overwhelming majority of papers show no phytoestrogenic interactions, alongside slightly positive health effects associated with soy consumption. The prevailing benefits include reducing recurrence of breast cancer, the severity of hot flashes, and the incidence of heart attacks. It’s worth mentioning, many of the beneficial outcomes of eating soy get mixed up with the simple benefits of reducing animal protein intake. Nonetheless, the vilification of soy persists despite evidence of its virtues.
Companies such as Beyond Meat are complicit in spreading largely baseless anti-soy concerns. At the same time, not everyone can enjoy soy products, with some 1-6 in 1000 North Americans presenting an allergy. Further, those with a family history of breast cancer or thyroid conditions should also pay closer attention to soy consumption.
Soytritious
Let’s look at the soy itself, and what it offers our human palate. Soy comes packed with nutrients, both in the form of vitamins and minerals like magnesium, as well as quality protein. As Harvard’s School of Public Health elucidates: “Unlike some plant proteins, soy protein is considered a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids that the body cannot make which must be obtained from the diet.” All that essential protein, it’s amazing how much goes to animals!
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These nutrients aren’t, however, spread evenly across soy products. As Texas Health explains, eating less-processed soy such as edamame beans, tofu, and soy milk provide more of the natural benefits, and—as with all foods—moderation and balance is still important to consider.
Soy to the world
Ultimately, soy is one of the most resource-efficient and healthy protein sources we have. Though results of studies are mixed, the neutral to positive effects of soy’s unique properties, mixed with the overwhelming evidence of animal products’ relative strains on human and earth systems, leave edamame, tofus, and soymilks as essential climate solutions, that will also help unblock some of the most formidable public health crises in the US.
Soy may sound bland, but these minimally processed canvases await any flavor landscape or texture you can dream of. What will planet-saving meal will you come up with next?
The Closer
Happy World Aquatic Animal Day from Big Sur State Parks