I recently visited the beautiful Byron Bay and region for a holiday. I was disappointed to see cafe after cafe after cafe using imported soy milk even though the Byron region is barely an hour away from the largest soybean growing region in Australia, the Northern Rivers of New South Wales.
The imported soy milk I noticed most often was Bonsoy and Happy Happy Soy Boy. Both brands involve shipping soybeans from the US/Canada to Japan, processing them into soy milk and then shipping those cartons of soy milk to Australia; a process which involves at least 20,000 km of ‘food miles’.
By comparison, Aussie grown soybeans are transported from the Northern Rivers of NSW (and other growing regions, including Victoria) to regional Victoria (~1,200 km) and processed into soy milk by a company which has supported Aussie soybean farmers for decades.
Why is it that a region so committed to supporting local farmers, is completely overlooking the hard-working soybean growers in their own backyard (ie the Tweed, Clarence and Richmond River catchments)?
Australia’s soybean crop is naturally non-GM; we do NOT grow roundup-ready soybeans in Australia.
In Australia, soybeans are grown as a vital legume rotation crop to improve soil health, fix atmospheric nitrogen, boost soil organic matter (carbon) and support soil biota. As a passionate soybean grower from Queensland, I can attest to the amazing soil health benefits that soybeans return to our farm.
I’d love to see an eco-conscious region like the Byron area embrace Australian grown soy milk and support farmers in their backyard rather than import soy milk from the other side of the world.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
