The Soy Paradox: The Western Nutrition Transition Revisited, 1950-2010

The article addresses Western dietary change from the mid-twentieth century through the lens of soy. The soybean, originating from the Far East, has often been neglected in accounts of the Western Nutrition Transition. In fact, soyfoods are regarded as an alternative to the nutritional mainstream in the West and are often considered an icon of vegetarian counterculture. Aside from this recognised position in Western dietary culture, this article argues that soy simultaneously played a contradictory (though hidden) role. Through time-series and cross-section analyses of country-level data, a more differentiated account of Western dietary change emerges. Consequently, soybean cake and oil were substantial factors in ‘meatification’ and ‘oilification’, which were the main trends of the transition. Metaphorically speaking, soy played a paradoxical role as both antagonist and protagonist in the drama of Western dietary change.