Introduction

This introductory chapter explains the overarching research question for this book, which is how and why the soybean became a crop of global economic value in the first half of the twentieth century. The book is situated in the field of commodity history, and this chapter reflects on the benefits and drawbacks of using this approach. It argues that by following a global commodity such as the soybean, a coherent narrative about diverse but interconnected places and phenomena becomes visible. Besides, the chapter reflects on the driving forces behind the spread of soy in the Western world that are identified in the subsequent chapters. Eventually, this introduction explains some nutritional and chemical peculiarities regarding soy and provides an overview of the structure of this book.