Farm to Fork: Soybeans

Unlike our other Ontario grains, the process to get soybeans from the farms to our forks isn’t easily guessed. We know food supply chains can be long and complicated so we thought we would break down the main steps involved to help you learn where your food comes from.

Check out what happens between harvesting soybeans from the fields and getting tofu on your plate!

Fork: Tofu scramble

Step 6: Consumers, like you, purchase the packaged tofu from the grocery store, bring it home and make a delicious meal with it.

Step 5: The tofu is then packaged and sent to a distribution center where the tofu is sent back to a Canadian distribution center, where the product is sent to food retailers and supermarkets.

Step 4: At the international processing facility, the soybeans are soaked in water, the okara (soybean pulp) is the separated from the liquid and then the remaining curds of pulp are pressed into blocks. These blocks can be left as is, as tofu block or can be pre- cut into pieces to make precut tofu

Step 3: The elevators then sell the soybeans directly to a food processing facility or to an intermediate storage company where the soybeans are then packaged into shipping containers and are normally shipped internationally to countries like Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.to be processed into tofu.

Step 2: The elevators check the soybeans for quality to make sure that there the soybeans meet a certain food-grade standard.

Step 1: Food-grade soybeans are delivered to a local elevator and are stored there until they are sold to an end user or processor. They are delivered to the elevator and stored there until they are sold.

Farm: Food grade soybeans are used in food products such as tofu, soy milk and miso are harvested in Ontario in mid- October and November.