Magic Bean

By Matthew Roth,

Book cover of Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America

Book description

At the turn of the twentieth century, soybeans grew on so little of America's land that nobody bothered to track the total. By the year 2000, they covered upward of 70 million acres, second only to corn, and had become the nation's largest cash crop. How this little-known Chinese transplant,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Magic Bean as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Livestock eat a lot of corn and soy, and Matthew David Roth shares the detailed history of how industry fueled that rise over only a few decades.

I found the primary documents and deep research Roth cites to be illuminating. I write about how monoculture, like commodity soy, has had devastating impacts on the soil and waterways across the U.S. This book is key because it’s so important to understand how we got here.

From Chloe's list on the meat industry.

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