ABSTRACT
This chapter follows the entry of soybeans into the United States from the 1910s to the 1940s and explains how and why the crop rapidly gained a significant position in American agriculture and industry during this short period. I argue that the rise of the soybean in the United States as a field crop was the result of governmental responses to economic crises and global wars. The chapter analyzes how the First World War, the Great Depression, and the Second World War were linked to rising soybean cultivation in the United States. It focuses mainly on the American Midwest, where soybean cultivation and processing skyrocketed in these years. In addition to finding reasons for why farmers in the Midwest responded positively to the idea of cultivating soybeans, the chapter sheds light on what the beans were used for and how an industry around processing soybeans emerged in this region. Finally, there is a distinct focus on the use of soybeans in wartime, when large quantities of soybean flour for human consumption found an outlet in aid shipments abroad.
