# More than three-quarters of the world's soy is fed to livestock; only around 7% is eaten directly by people.

The Balance of Health
Canonical: https://thebalanceofhealth.com/claims/most-soy-is-fed-to-animals-not-people
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## status

reviewed

## id

claim-soy-mostly-fed-to-animals

## slug

most-soy-is-fed-to-animals-not-people

## statement

More than three-quarters of the world's soy is fed to livestock; only around 7% is eaten directly by people.

## shortAnswer

Soy grown for tofu and soy milk is a small slice of the total. Most soy feeds chickens, pigs and cows.

## pillarIds

- environment

## topicIds

- deforestation
- land-use

## keyStatisticId

stat-soy-fed-to-animals

## explanation

- Most soybeans are crushed into oil and meal. The meal, which is most of the bean by weight, goes to animal feed.
- Soy for direct human food is a small share, and most of it is not grown in deforestation frontiers.

## rating

### strength

strong

### rationale

Trade and production data from FAO and supply-chain trackers agree on the broad split.

## sourceIds

- src-ritchie-2021-soy

## limitations

- How to allocate impacts between oil and meal is a judgement call that affects exact percentages.

## methodology

- FAO food balance sheets and supply-chain data (Trase) on soy end uses.

## Original sources

## title

Soy

## url

https://ourworldindata.org/soy

## doi



## canonical

https://thebalanceofhealth.com/sources/ritchie-2021-soy-drivers-of-deforestation

## status

reviewed