 Today, soy is intensely cultivated around the world, with the U.S. and South America dominating production. Worldwide soy cultivation takes up an area the size of France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands combined. But is soy production bad for the environment? With its widespread expansion, soy producers often convert huge areas of natural land into soy plantations. Soy is the second largest agricultural driver of deforestation after beef, particularly in tropical countries. This wide-scale deforestation creates more environmental effects, including biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, soil erosion, strained and contaminated water resources. However, counter to the myth that increased soy production is a result of demand from vegan and vegetarian diets, the real driver of widespread soy cultivation is animal livestock. 80 to 90% of the world's soybeans are fed to farmed animals. Pigs, cows, poultry, farmed fish and most livestock are grown on soy-based feed because it's cheap and high in protein. Only 6% is turned into soy products for our consumption. But could soy as a protein substitute be a more sustainable solution? When we consume soy directly rather than have it filtered through the livestock chain, soy can actually be incredibly land efficient. To produce the same amount of protein, soy requires much less land than any animal product. Chicken requires 3 times the area of land, pork requires 9 times the area of land, and beef requires 32 times the area of land. If the world were to swap meat protein for soy protein, agricultural deforestation would decline by as much as 94%. Of course there are other considerations to bear in mind. But what do you think? Would you swap your meat protein for soy protein?