Nothing satisfies a craving for meat better than a nice mushy block of tofu. When you're thinking about protein, animal husbandry, warfare and politics, there is not a food in the world better than Tofu. It's white, squishy and it has all of the nutrients that you'd ever imagine could come from a soybean packed into its cheap, easily slurpable exterior. I've recently switched to free-range tofu because of my concern for the living conditions of some of the soybeans out there. Did you no that for the "silky" style tofu, they actually put the beans into a pen, and prevent them from moving, all the while they force feed them on fertilizers and manure? It's kind of disgusting to think about, really.

The soybean is an amazing animal, and i'm pretty sure that without it, japan would be totally up shit creek without a paddle, either that or their food would have a whole different flavor. The soybean can be turned into almost any type of food, from a main dish, to an appetizer to a condiment, to a soup, the soybean does it all. My big question recently is, "How do they get the milking machines onto the little beans in the first place?" I like soymilk a lot, and i'm really curious whether or not the process is humane. Do the beans suffer? Please leave comments if you have any answers.