Europe is addicted to imported soy. It fuels the factory farms that are driving down food quality, animal welfare and destroying thousands of small and family farms each year. The average EU consumer now eats 56 kilos of “hidden” soy every year, much of which is genetically modified, and is used to produce meat, milk and eggs without most shoppers ever knowing where it is.

This is a new problem. Until 1995, Europe was growing its own soy, and production was on the rise – EU soybean output nearly tripled from 1980-1990 and imports were steady.

This didn’t suite everyone. US agribusiness claimed a 53% reduction in their exports and wanted something done. So a series of negotiations introduced trade agreements that restricted what European farmers can grow as part of setting up the WTO. Since then, EU soy production has plummeted and imports are up 57.1%. Now EU soy imports are big business, dependent on factory farms to survive.

Farmers and consumer lose as big companies make money from soy. Small farmers everywhere are driven off the land, either to make way for soy plantations or because their responsible meat and dairy production can’t keep up with Big Soy, so rural poverty is on the rise.

Soy-fuelled factory farms are not inevitable, they are a choice. Food & Water Europe chooses small and family farms because the produce the humane, quality food people want and the environment needs.

The Roundtable on Responsible Soy

The Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) is a group of multinational traders (like Cargill), agri-businesses (like Monsanto), processors (like Nestlé) and food retailers trying to greenwash industrial soy, including genetically modified soy. The RTRS has set its own standards for their new “responsible soy” label, and with no clear monitoring or enforcement done by an independent body, consumers are likely to be misled. Read more in our press release: New “responsible” soya label meets global rejection and our press briefing: Over 25.000 people tell Ahold: stop misleading consumers, Genetically Modified toxic soy is not responsible!

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The Perils of the Global Soy Trade: Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts