WISHH News

‘SoyCow’ Introduces U.S. Farmers to International Tastes at Commodity Classic

February 21, 2002…Nashville…Soybean growers are literally getting a taste of the world’s appetite for soy during the Commodity Classic in Nashville thanks to a processing system commonly called the “SoyCow”. The World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program has brought one to the American Soybean Association (ASA) booth at Commodity Classic, the joint annual meetings of the ASA and the National Corn Growers Association being held here on February 21-23. With the support of checkoff funds, WISHH is using the SoyCow as one of its approaches to introduce soy to the local foods in countries around the world.

There are currently about 3000 of the systems in the world today, but the number is growing through WISHH outreach to international groups like Feed the Children and Africare that are already active in developing countries. Last year, WISHH began working with non-profit organization Malnutrition Matters, whose founders helped develop the SoyCow. As a result, Africare and Feed the Children have purchased at least a dozen systems. CARE and other groups also have plans to use SoyCows.

Feed The Children (FTC) uses SoyCows to help provide protein-rich nutrition to children from Africa to Latin America to Russia and South East Asia. “Soya is an absolutely essential ingredient in any feeding program,” reports FTC’s Kenya Program Manager Morgan Scholz. “Not only is it highly nutritious and full of protein, but it integrates easily into many African dishes. WISHH is fantastic at encouraging better, practical incorporation of soy into African diets.”

With SoyCow technical support from WISHH, FTC is now using soy to help feed more than 200 disabled children at one center in Kenya, and provides soymilk to all babies over six months of age at their Abandoned Baby Centre (ABC) on the outskirts of Nairobi. Scholz reports that the soy has proven greatly beneficial to the babies’ health, whether they be malnourished alone or also HIV/AIDS infected. “The interest in this appropriate technology is huge,” Scholz said. “From across Kenya, to Tanzania and even in South Africa, more and more people are asking us about the SoyCow and the benefits of soy.”

The SoyCows also offer added value for entrepreneurs to make and sell soyfoods, according to Scholz and Judy Bryson of Africare’s Food for Development Unit. The groups are dedicated to meeting the immediate nutritional needs of the people while they also promote sustained economic development. The SoyCows fit both these goals. “You can feed people, and at the same time, increase people’s incomes,” Bryson said.
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From a U.S. farmer standpoint, SoyCows are also good business. “They are an innovative and flexible tool to quickly introduce U.S. soy to foods that are already popular in the countries that have the potential to be our best customers,”said ASA Board Member David Hand of Ohio who witnessed the systems in action last year in Africa.

“SoyCows are just one of the ways that WISHH is helping take the bounty of American agriculture to people who can truly appreciate it,” says United Soybean Board Chairman Richard Borgsmiller who visited WISHH initiatives in Africa last year. “WISHH is leveraging checkoff dollars by working with the groups that already have on-the-ground programs in developing countries.”

Most future growth in food demand will be in developing and middle-income countries. Almost all of the world’s projected increase of 1.2 billion people by 2020 will be in these countries, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture report: Food and Agricultural Policy Taking Stock for the New Century. The report also finds that the middle-income classes of developing countries will reach 1.5 billion by 2006—equal to the current combined population of Japan and the European Union.

Malnutrition Matters President Brian Harrigan has seen the systems prove the marketability of soy foods on a small level that then leads to larger commercial opportunities for “soy dairies.” The units cost between $4000 and $8,000 (U.S.). Their primary components are a grinder-cooker, steam boiler and manual press that can process 4 pounds of raw soybeans into 4 gallons of nutritious soymilk in about 20 minutes. This soymilk can then be further processed into value-added products such as yogurts as well as local food blends. A by-product of the process, a fiber-rich pulp called okara, can be used in breads, spreads and many other foods.

SoyCows can complement the traditional dairy industry by providing protein-rich nutrition for people in countries where lactose-intolerance is common or where traditional dairy products are unavailable or expensive. Furthermore, processing temperatures used in SoyCows effectively sterilize the soyfoods, while providing safe hydration, which is a concern in developing countries. Furthermore, traditional dairies are finding a demand for these soy products that can be marketed alongside milk products.

The WISHH Program is supported by the United Soybean Board and the state soybean checkoff programs in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin and soybean producers from the Northeastern United States. WISHH cooperates with the ASA international marketing department. In addition to SoyCows, WISHH works with numerous food aid initiatives and is exploring how soy-based foods can provide essential nutrition to the millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS. More information about WISHH is available at www.wishh.org

Contact: Jim Hershey at the American Soybean Association 1-800-688-7692 (SOYA)
Or Karen Coble Edwards 703-281-7600 (cell phone 703-625-8230)