| 5C Students Awaken to the Harsh Reality of Soy Abuse |
| 3-23-01 |
| As our media are flooded with images of obese Americans, mad cow disease, and cruelty to livestock, it is all but impossible not to be inspired by the crusade of vegetarians and vegans across the country. How could anyone turn a blind eye to the plight of the animals that live caged and cramped to feed our modern lifestyle? Students are just now realizing, however, that in their fervent campaign for better treatment of animals, attention focused on the ever-increasing sum of meat eaten |
| worldwide, they have lost sight of an equally important issue, one that concerns people of every creed and nation but which goes sadly underreported, even repressed. Who will free the soy? As animal rights proponents fight nobly for the basic comforts of those without a voice to protect themselves, soy has become an increasingly important part of the American diet. Fields of soy bean plants stretch as far as the eye can see, planted as close together as possible to maximize production |
| and profits. Despite these less than ideal conditions, soy continues to support the protein requirements of vegans and vegetarians, produced and cut down in ever more vast quantities. The first step must be taken in righting this great wrong: literature urging boycotts of the abusive meat and dairy industries should be coupled with pleas for better conditions for soy. We must take an active role in the protection of this marginalized plant, the silent bearer of the weight of the vegan and vegetarian cause. Spread the word. Free the soy. |