I stopped by the library today to see if I could figure out the name of the book that turned me back into a vegetarian. It was, The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason, and if you haven't read it, I highly recommend this book as one that has the potential for informing the way you eat for years to come (I read it in 2006).

The Way we Eat: Why our Food Choices Matter wasn't on the shelf at my library though, so I just browsed through the other food titles to see what was new. This one wasn't, but the title caught my eye - The Whole Soy Story, not to mention the subtitle - the dark side of America's favorite health food.

Well, shut my mouth! Tofu has been my other white meat (make that my only meat-like substance of any color) since 2006. It can't really be bad for me... Can it?

Author Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, makes a convincing case that it can be. She offers free chapters of the book through her internet site, so feel free to take a look for yourself.

It's hard to find a flaw in the case Daniel makes against soy and the marketeers who brought it to prominence as a viable high-protein substitute for meat. In fact, it seems that soy can damage your thyroid and contribute to gastric distress and some kinds of cancers. The benefits of soy that have been so highly touted by health-conscious media are, according to Daniel, based on bad science, greed and the ability to spin a story in the most profitable direction, regardless of the consequences to consumers.

What now?

I sometimes get discouraged by the number of people involved in the restaurant and grocery industries who are making green choices as a way to attract consumers who care about green issues, rather than bringing their own care into their food offerings. Like it or not, there are some entrepreneurs out there who claim to be green just because they know it's the new black, and stylish people everywhere want to dress themselves in what is fashionable.
 
That's what Daniel says happened with the soy revolution. Those who wanted  a natural alternative to estrogen replacement and those who understood the environmental and ethical problems with meat consumption were targeted by soy marketers and the demand for soy products increased dramatically.

Ads influence us. After all,  who has the time to shift through all the science, not to mention all the hype, and make the choices that are really right for the health of our planet and our selves?

I'm not about to start eating meat again, but I am seeking the answers about what the right choices really are, rather than what the fashionable choices are, or what the choices that feed the greed of its producers are, whether their products are beef or soy. I'll keep asking restaurants and grocery stores for good food, done right. And I'll be ready to buy it and spread the word whenever I find it.