Editing Soybean (section)

===North America===
Soybeans were first introduced to North America from China in 1765, by [[Samuel Bowen]], a former [[East India Company]] sailor who had visited China in conjunction with [[James Flint (merchant)|James Flint]], the first Englishman legally permitted by the Chinese authorities to learn Chinese.<ref>{{cite book
| title = An Anxious Pursuit: Agricultural Innovation and Modernity in the Lower South, 1730–1815
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_I0_gkKKMM8C&pg=PA147
| last1 = Chaplin
| first1 = J.E.
| year = 1996
| isbn = 978-0-8078-4613-1
| publisher = University of North Carolina Press
| page = 147}}</ref> The first "New World" soybean crop was grown on [[Skidaway Island, Georgia]], in 1765 by Henry Yonge from seeds given him by Samuel Bowen.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hymowitz|first=T.|date=1970-10-01|title=On the domestication of the soybean|journal=[[Economic Botany]]|language=en|volume=24|issue=4|pages=408–21|doi=10.1007/BF02860745|bibcode=1970EcBot..24..408H |s2cid=26735964|url=http://elartu.tntu.edu.ua/handle/lib/43629 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/irwin/anr/Vol29.1.pdf.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923195804/http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/irwin/anr/Vol29.1.pdf.pdf |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |publisher=Georgia Soybean News |website=caes.uga.edu |title=Another First for Georgia Agriculture |author=Roger Boerma |page=5 |volume=1 |issue=1  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=360&dat=19940831&id=9eMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=6901,2669493&hl=en|publisher=The Rockmart Journal|title=Soybeans planted first in Georgia|date=21 August 1994|website=Google News Archive}}</ref> Bowen grew soy near [[Savannah, Georgia]], possibly using funds from Flint, and made soy sauce for sale to England.<ref name="Coastalfields Press">{{cite book|title=Eat Your Food! Gastronomical Glory from Garden to Gut: A Coastalfields Cookbook, Nutrition Textbook, Farming Manual and Sports Manual|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BtZ2oNGyv6AC&pg=PR2|access-date=4 May 2013|date=April 2007|publisher=Coastalfields Press|isbn=978-0-9785944-8-0}}</ref> Although soybean was introduced into North America in 1765, for the next 155 years, the crop was grown primarily for [[forage]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nsrl.uiuc.edu/aboutsoy/history4.html |title=About Soy - Soybeans: The Success Story - p.4|date=November 22, 2003 |website=National Soybean Research Laboratory - [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031122134643/http://www.nsrl.uiuc.edu/aboutsoy/history4.html |archive-date=November 22, 2003 }}</ref>

In 1831, the first soy product "a few dozen India Soy" [sauce] arrived in Canada. Soybeans were probably first cultivated in Canada by 1855, and definitely in 1895 at [[Ontario Agricultural College]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/137|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Canada (1831–2010)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|isbn=978-1-928914-28-0|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi|year=2010}}</ref>

It was not until [[Lafayette Mendel]] and [[Thomas Burr Osborne (chemist)|Thomas Burr Osborne]] showed that the nutritional value of soybean seeds could be increased by cooking, moisture or heat, that soy went from a farm animal feed to a human food.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/html_pubs/irspsm91/kunitz.html|title=The Kunitz Soybean Variety|work=uiuc.edu|date=2018-02-20|first = Theodore|last =Hymowitz}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cropsci.illinois.edu/news/scientists-create-new-low-allergen-soybean|title= Scientists create new low-allergen soybean|work=illinois.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605195117/http://cropsci.illinois.edu/news/scientists-create-new-low-allergen-soybean|archive-date=June 5, 2015}}</ref>

[[William Joseph Morse]] is considered the "father" of modern soybean agriculture in America. In 1910, he and [[Charles Piper]] began to popularize what was regarded as a relatively unknown Oriental peasant crop in America into a "golden bean", with the soybean becoming one of America's largest and most nutritious farm crops.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/morse_and_piper.php|title=William J. Morse and Charles V. Piper|work=soyinfocenter.com|first1= William |last1=Shurtleff |first2=Akiko|last2= Aoyagi|date =2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/147|title=William J. Morse – History of His Work with Soybeans and Soyfoods (1884–1959) – SoyInfo Center |publisher=soyinfocenter.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Piper |first1=Charles V. |author1-link=Charles Piper |last2=Morse |first2=William J. |year=1923 |title=The Soybean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hRCAAAAYAAJ |series=Agricultural and Biological Publications |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company |oclc=252589754 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[File:Soybeans 2021 US map.pdf|frameless|alt=Planted area 2021 US map by state|left|upright=2.0]]

Prior to the 1920s in the US, the soybean was mainly a [[forage]] crop, a source of oil, meal (for feed) and industrial products, with very little used as food. However, it took on an important role after World War I. During the [[Great Depression]], the drought-stricken ([[Dust Bowl]]) regions of the United States were able to use soy to regenerate their soil because of its nitrogen-fixing properties. Farms were increasing production to meet with government demands, and [[Henry Ford]] became a promoter of soybeans.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-07/history-of-soybeans-in-u-s-could-take-turn-in-trump-s-trade-war?srnd=premium|title=How Soybeans Became Ubiquitous |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=December 7, 2019 |publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=2019-12-07}}</ref> In 1931, Ford hired chemists [[Robert Boyer (chemist)|Robert Boyer]] and Frank Calvert to produce [[artificial silk]]. They succeeded in making a textile fiber of spun soy protein fibers, hardened or tanned in a [[formaldehyde]] bath, which was given the name [[Azlon]]. It never reached the commercial market. Soybean oil was used by [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] in [[Soy paint|paint]] for the automobiles,<ref name="Schwarcz">{{cite book |author=Joe Schwarcz|title=The Fly in the Ointment: 63 Fascinating Commentaries on the Science of Everyday Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmIbClRzfeoC&pg=PA193 |access-date=4 May 2013 |year=2004 |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-55022-621-8|page=193}}</ref> as well as a fluid for shock absorbers.

During World War II, soybeans became important in both North America and Europe chiefly as substitutes for other protein foods and as a source of edible oil. During the war, the soybean was discovered as [[fertilizer]] due to [[nitrogen fixation]] by the [[United States Department of Agriculture]].

Prior to the 1970s, Asian-Americans and Seventh-Day Adventists were essentially the only users of soy foods in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roth |first=Matthew |year=2018 |title=Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America |location=Lawrence, KS |publisher=University Press of Kansas|page=109 |isbn=978-0-7006-2633-5 |oclc=1012618664 }}</ref> "The soy foods movement began in small pockets of the counterculture, notably the Tennessee commune named simply [[The Farm (Tennessee)|The Farm]], but by the mid-1970s a vegetarian revival helped it gain momentum and even popular awareness through books such as [[William Shurtleff|''The Book of Tofu'']]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roth |first=Matthew |year=2018 |title=Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America |location=Lawrence, KS |publisher=University Press of Kansas|page=201 |isbn=978-0-7006-2633-5 |oclc=1012618664 }}</ref>

Although practically unseen in 1900, by 2000 soybean plantings covered more than 70 million acres,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roth |first=Matthew |year=2018 |title=Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America |location=Lawrence, KS |publisher=University Press of Kansas|page=8 |isbn=978-0-7006-2633-5 |oclc=1012618664 }}</ref> second only to corn, and it became America's largest cash crop.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} In 2021, 87,195,000 acres were planted, with the largest acreage in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota.<ref>{{cite web |title=2021 Soybean Planted Area (000) Acres and Percent Change from Previous Year |url=https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/graphics/soyacm.pdf |website=USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service |publisher=USDA |access-date=4 February 2022 |date=12 January 2022}}</ref>