2018 Outstanding Academic Title - ChoiceAs a former research director of the John Hopkins Project on Soybeans, Christine Du Bois knows just about everything there is to know about the soy bean. She handles her subject in a way that both illuminates and informs without being too dry or pretentious for the ordinary reader. She has a huge tale to tell: a veritable saga of soy with all its global connotations . . . It is fascinating to read of the individuals who have played a part in the rise of soy and she draws attention to how the bean has been steadily shaping our modern world in any number of ways . . . Du Bois provides us with the background against which we may frame our opinions; she asks the questions but leaves us, her readers, to reflect upon what the answers might be. - Petits Propos CulinairesThe Story of Soy places soy, nutrition, and the near future into a global picture . . . Soy just goes on getting more and more important. This book is needed. - Sidney MintzDu Bois does not offer the reader a simple message . . . but that is precisely why the book helps [us] to better understand the mechanisms and effects of global agriculture. - Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungHaving read The Story of Soy, I’m left in absolutely no doubt that this small seed is huge. And I mean absolutely ginormous! Du Bois’s book is nothing short of a revelation and thoroughly recommended to anybody who wants to gain an insight into how the modern world works. . . . Not only will The Story of Soy enlighten you about many topics, it’s all done—and importantly—in a carefully balanced way: Du Bois doesn’t pick sides; she simply delivers intelligent, evidence-based writing. Additionally, The Story of Soy is extremely well-written, with some really nice stylistic flourishes. . . . A quite gripping read. . . . A great story, told by a great storyteller. - Botany OneThe Story of Soy . . . details how the soybean plant’s versatility has given the plant and those who control it remarkable power. Throughout history soybeans have catalyzed conflict, shaped economies, and affected people in the developing world. They have been a source of dietary breakthroughs and global health concerns. Stories and data from the time of soy’s domestication to the present underscore the plant’s influence on trade and society. - Alden Hunt, Princeton Alumni WeeklyThis voluminously documented volume takes care to situate soy in its diverse historical and contemporary contexts. It shows how soy in each era paradoxically created conditions to sustain life, including fixing nitrogen for agricultural ecosystems, but also to destroy environments and societies through relentless and sometimes violent pursuit of food and wealth based on soybean cultivation, processing and distribution. . . . I particularly appreciated Du Bois’s exhaustive dedication to exploring the entire range of relations between this economic and nutritional species and the human populations that have used and will continue to use it. - Ellen Messer, Food AnthropologyIn ten succinct, informative chapters, Du Bois covers the history of the soybean from its roots in Asia, its development in the United States as a major crop, its globalization, its place in the realm of genetic engineering, and how soy oil relates to global energy consumption. A chapter on the business of beans offers an eye-opening dip into the economics of soybeans. Du Bois’s style is light, easy on technological terms, and unremittingly evenhanded, especially when it describes the conflict between indigenous farmers and large soybean producers in South America, or the conflict between agrochemical companies and opponents of genetic engineering. . . . This text will make readers both grateful that soy is around and concerned at the powerful influence it exerts on global politics, economics, and society. A must-read in agriculture. Highly recommended. - ChoiceDu Bois deftly engages with controversial issues surrounding soy . . . From a historical and social perspective, this is an excellent, concise but thorough summation of a very complex pulse crop. - Economic Botany
