If\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0ever attempted \u201cVeganuary\u201d or explored the dairy-free section of your local supermarket,\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0likely found\u00a0yourself face to face with a block of tofu or carton of soy milk. Framed as modern alternatives to meat and dairy, soya\u2019s history across Indonesia, Japan, and China is often obscured. Soya was cultivated and fermented across parts of East and Southeast Asia long before it was mass produced in UK factories.\u00a0In these contexts, soy foods were not \u201csubstitutes\u201d but central components of everyday diets, embedded in local ecologies, agricultural knowledge, and culinary traditions. Fermentation techniques, for example, reflect deep understandings of microbiology long before Western nutritional science named it as such.\u00a0\u00a0When British colonial researchers undertook research in these areas, soya-bean consumption found its way to the West, gradually rising in popularity through the 1960\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Recipe](\"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/files\/2026\/01\/IMG_4131-1-188x300.jpeg\")
The LSHTM archives \u2018Nutrition\u2019 collection\u00a0contains\u00a0a variety of recipes, research and media relating to the production and nutritional value of soya-bean products, starting from around 1953.\u00a0When explored through a post-colonial lens, we can begin to draw out the ways in which colonial power\u00a0reframed\u00a0veganism’s\u00a0history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Encountering soya through LSHTM\u2019s Archives\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\nWithin LSHTM\u2019s Nutrition collection, references to soy products begin appearing prominently in the early 1950s. These recipes, nutritional analyses and press releases were often produced by British researchers or international\u00a0organisations\u00a0operating\u00a0within post-colonial and developmental frameworks.\u00a0Some of the earliest mentions of\u00a0soybeans\u00a0within the archive come in the form of nutritional research.\u00a0One report (GB 08 09 Nutrition\/18\/02\/03) nicknames it \u201cthe wonder bean\u201d due to enthusiasm for it by medical nutritionists. The bean also inspired a short poem which is spotlighted in the same report.\u00a0Yet this praise is filtered through Western nutritional\u00a0priorities,\u00a0the humble\u00a0soybean\u00a0is compared to\u00a0different\u00a0vegetables,\u00a0grains\u00a0and even meat proteins.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n![\"Poem](\"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/files\/2026\/01\/Image-of-Soybean-Poem-300x257.jpg\")
Poem on soybeans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSoy\u00a0milk,\u00a0UNICEF\u00a0and the politics of nutrition<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\nA February 1953\u00a0UNICEF\u00a0press release\u00a0(GB 08 09 Nutrition\/18\/17\/12)\u00a0presents\u00a0\u201cSoy Bean\u00a0Milk\u201d\u00a0as a \u201clow cost, high protein\u201d response\u00a0to\u00a0malnutrition. Described as one of several \u201cunusual foods\u201d soy milk\u00a0immediately\u00a0appears\u00a0somewhat\u00a0as\u00a0an\u00a0innovation rather than a long-established staple.\u00a0In the article,\u00a0United\u00a0Nations\u00a0urge\u00a0the support of\u00a0soy-farms\u00a0rather\u00a0than dairy industries\u00a0with the aim to\u00a0\u201cget maximum value from food grown locally in good quantity\u201d,\u00a0and many of the benefits of\u00a0utilising\u00a0the existing\u00a0soya\u00a0industry are explored.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/files\/2026\/01\/Making-soya-bean-milk-on-an-experimental-basis-seiving-through-cloth-Indonesia-1955-Scanned-Image-of-Slide-300x220.jpg\")
Making soya bean milk on an experimental basis, Indonesia 1955<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nIn August of the same year, UNICEF\u00a0advocate for\u00a0the apportionment\u00a0to Indonesia for vegetable milk production,\u00a0(GB 08 09 Nutrition\/17\/02\/02\/01)\u00a0drawing explicitly on\u00a0existing\u00a0soybeans\u00a0consumption practices in the area.\u00a0\u00a0Training\u00a0programmes\u00a0and the extension of\u00a0the milk\u00a0into specific products for child feeding\u00a0were proposed within the report.<\/p>\n
Beyond milk: tofu, tempeh and fermentation cultures<\/strong><\/h2>\nSeveral\u00a0articles within the archive begin to explore\u00a0popular uses of\u00a0soybeans\u00a0beyond milk. GB 08 09 Nutrition\/17\/02\/02\/01 explores Indonesian\u00a0\u201cTahu\u201d\u00a0(tofu)\u00a0a curd made from beans that have been soaked for 5 hours, ground and boiled and precipitated with calcium or magnesium salts, and \u201cTempe\u00a0Kedele\u201d, a soft, dry, light grey cake made from whole beans, with only the bitter\u00a0skin\u00a0removed,\u00a0which are either fried in oil or cooked with vegetables before eating.\u00a0In GB 08 09 Nutrition\/18\/02\/04 Japanese\u00a0foods such as\u00a0\u201cNatto\u201d (fermented cooked beans used as a side dish and eaten with\u00a0soy\u00a0sauce), \u201cHama natto\u201d (natto mixed with wheat flour,\u00a0salt\u00a0and ginger) and \u201cmiso\u201d (soybeans\u00a0fermented\u00a0with koji)\u00a0are introduced. Many of these products\u00a0remain\u00a0staple in a modern plant-based diet.\u00a0The techniques discussed within the articles are refined and specific further hinting at the history of the\u00a0soybean long before British involvement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soy\u00a0milk,\u00a0UNICEF\u00a0and the politics of nutrition<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\nA February 1953\u00a0UNICEF\u00a0press release\u00a0(GB 08 09 Nutrition\/18\/17\/12)\u00a0presents\u00a0\u201cSoy Bean\u00a0Milk\u201d\u00a0as a \u201clow cost, high protein\u201d response\u00a0to\u00a0malnutrition. Described as one of several \u201cunusual foods\u201d soy milk\u00a0immediately\u00a0appears\u00a0somewhat\u00a0as\u00a0an\u00a0innovation rather than a long-established staple.\u00a0In the article,\u00a0United\u00a0Nations\u00a0urge\u00a0the support of\u00a0soy-farms\u00a0rather\u00a0than dairy industries\u00a0with the aim to\u00a0\u201cget maximum value from food grown locally in good quantity\u201d,\u00a0and many of the benefits of\u00a0utilising\u00a0the existing\u00a0soya\u00a0industry are explored.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nMaking soya bean milk on an experimental basis, Indonesia 1955<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nIn August of the same year, UNICEF\u00a0advocate for\u00a0the apportionment\u00a0to Indonesia for vegetable milk production,\u00a0(GB 08 09 Nutrition\/17\/02\/02\/01)\u00a0drawing explicitly on\u00a0existing\u00a0soybeans\u00a0consumption practices in the area.\u00a0\u00a0Training\u00a0programmes\u00a0and the extension of\u00a0the milk\u00a0into specific products for child feeding\u00a0were proposed within the report.<\/p>\n
Beyond milk: tofu, tempeh and fermentation cultures<\/strong><\/h2>\nSeveral\u00a0articles within the archive begin to explore\u00a0popular uses of\u00a0soybeans\u00a0beyond milk. GB 08 09 Nutrition\/17\/02\/02\/01 explores Indonesian\u00a0\u201cTahu\u201d\u00a0(tofu)\u00a0a curd made from beans that have been soaked for 5 hours, ground and boiled and precipitated with calcium or magnesium salts, and \u201cTempe\u00a0Kedele\u201d, a soft, dry, light grey cake made from whole beans, with only the bitter\u00a0skin\u00a0removed,\u00a0which are either fried in oil or cooked with vegetables before eating.\u00a0In GB 08 09 Nutrition\/18\/02\/04 Japanese\u00a0foods such as\u00a0\u201cNatto\u201d (fermented cooked beans used as a side dish and eaten with\u00a0soy\u00a0sauce), \u201cHama natto\u201d (natto mixed with wheat flour,\u00a0salt\u00a0and ginger) and \u201cmiso\u201d (soybeans\u00a0fermented\u00a0with koji)\u00a0are introduced. Many of these products\u00a0remain\u00a0staple in a modern plant-based diet.\u00a0The techniques discussed within the articles are refined and specific further hinting at the history of the\u00a0soybean long before British involvement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In August of the same year, UNICEF\u00a0advocate for\u00a0the apportionment\u00a0to Indonesia for vegetable milk production,\u00a0(GB 08 09 Nutrition\/17\/02\/02\/01)\u00a0drawing explicitly on\u00a0existing\u00a0soybeans\u00a0consumption practices in the area.\u00a0\u00a0Training\u00a0programmes\u00a0and the extension of\u00a0the milk\u00a0into specific products for child feeding\u00a0were proposed within the report.<\/p>\n