Today, 10 February, is World Pulses Day. Let’s talk soya!
‘One Planet’ products, , made within the boundaries of our one and only planet, that is what we want. We need to farm the land in a way that it can renew itself. That’s what regenerative agriculture is all about. Through a set of farming practices, we maintain a healthy soil, reduce our impact on water, and preserve and restore biodiversity while maintaining a healthy farming business. This means we don’t only secure our food supply, but also restore entire ecosystems and helps mitigate climate change.
Soya in itself is a very sustainable crop
It’s a legume, which means that it fixes nitrogen from the air and boosts soil fertility. So the next set of crops cultivated on the same piece of land will benefit from it. In addition, soya is a rotation crop. That means farmers will cultivate different crops on the same piece of land, improving the quality of the soil.
In 2021, we will support soya farmers to transform even further to regenerative agriculture. Our baseline assessment about biodiversity, water usage and soil organic matter will be the start for some exciting pilot projects with key farmers. We’ll then share the results with all the farmers who we source our soya., so that they can all learn and benefit from it.
Talking about Alpro’s soya sourcing…
Did you know that we don’t allow any genetic modification, deforestation or monocropping? This is guaranteed by our Proterra certification. We source as local as possible. The majority of our soya comes from Europe, close to our factories (our factory in Issenheim only uses soya from within a radius of 50 km surrounding the factory). The remainder is sourced in Canada and transported by boat straight to our Wevelgem factory along the river Leie, to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible.
Soya boosts your planetary plate
On top of this, not only is soya rich in good fatty acids – it also contains high-quality proteins that are the same as animal proteins. What’s more, it also contains a great variety of vitamins and minerals. That means soya isn’t just a great alternative to dairy, it’s also a wholesome and nutritious food. The great news is, that the huge variety of delicious soya products available, makes it easy to integrate into a healthy, varied and well-balanced diet and to shift to a planetary plate!