10 Jun 2010 --- Solae, sponsor of the Sustainable Foods Summit, will address how soy protein is a solution to the growing global issue of sustainable food needs.

There are more than six billion people on the planet today, and more than nine billion expected within the next four decades. This population growth is the same as adding a city the size of New York City to the planet every six weeks for the next 40 years.

"The United Nations says we must double food production by 2050 to meet this growing demand," said Michele Fite, VP of global strategy and marketing — Solae. "Without twice as much land, water and natural resources, we must find a sustainable way to produce more food with fewer resources."

To meet this challenge, food companies are seeking more sustainable solutions to feed the growing population, reduce waste and consumption and provide provenance and ingredient transparency. Soy protein is an environmentally sustainable, economically efficient and nutritionally complete protein and a healthy alternative to other sources of protein.

Michele's presentation will be Sustainable Soy – Soy's role in our future, and it will discuss:

* Soy protein is the only commercially-viable plant-based protein that is a high-quality, nutritionally complete source of protein.
* Soybeans produce more pounds of usable protein per acre of farmland than all other sources of proteins.
* Soy is the most energy efficient protein – for every 1kcal used for production, soy generates 415kcal of energy.
* Soybeans use less water in production than other forms of high-quality, or complete proteins.

"There are an increasing amount of environmental concerns affecting the food industry today. For example, 18 percent of all emissions are derived from global livestock production," said Michele. "At the same time, consumers are beginning to assess their own carbon footprint. Food companies must meet consumer demand for transparency and fairness. At Solae, we believe soy plays a critical role in a sustainable future."

As a leader in healthy ingredients, Solae is committed to sustainability and environmental stewardship. The company supports the protection of natural resources such as Amazon Biome. Additionally, Solae implemented in 2005 a ten-year environmental strategy in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least 15 percent from a base year of 2004, ensure water conservation and hold energy flat on absolute basis. Two of these three goals have already been exceeded with a 21 percent reduction in GHG emissions on actual basis, including all global sites, and a 16 percent reduction in energy use including all global sites.

Solae is the world leader in developing innovative soy-based technologies and ingredients for food, meat and nutritional products. Solae provides solutions that deliver a unique combination of functional, nutritional and economical benefits to our customers. At Solae, the journey to innovation begins with nature. We take one of nature's best resources, the soybean, and create nutritious and great-tasting ingredients. Our goal is to provide solutions for today while innovating for tomorrow. With more than 1,000 products used by more than 3,500 customers, Solae's soy ingredients are enjoyed by consumers around the world in products such as baked goods, beverages, nutrition bars, meats, vegetarian meals and much more. Solae is a recipient of Ethisphere's 100 "World's Most Ethical Companies" in 2010.