history of soy yogurt, soy acidophilus milk and other ... - SoyInfo Center

products, which has proven to be very popular.
“New soybean use developed–The IDRC-sponsored
project has been instrumental in encouraging the
development of more than 140 soybean-based foods,
including soya milk and yogurt, soya fl our, biscuits, baby
food, condiments, and breakfast cereals. The newest product
that has become very popular in Northern Nigeria is tofu.
Participating research institutions in Nigeria have developed
recipes that incorporate soybeans into new and traditional
foods.”
1168. Fike, Rupert. ed. 1998. Voices from The Farm:
Adventures in community living. Summertown, Tennessee:
Book Publishing Co. xii + 164 p. No index. 23 cm.
• Summary: This excellent book (a collection of short
vignettes written by various Farm members) captures
the spirit and essence of The Farm, a large spiritual in
Summertown, Lewis Co., Tennessee–a community that has
changed the world (for the better) in many areas.
The Farm traces its roots to the late 1970s with “Monday
Night Class,” which was led by Stephen Gaskin, an English
teacher at San Francisco State College, in California. He
held free, open meetings which focused on putting the shared
psychedelic experiences of those who attended into the
perspective of the world’s major religions. He emphasized
eternal spiritual values–compassion, self-reliance,
development of personal character, and an awareness of
the interconnectedness of all life. After talking, Stephen
answered questions from the fl oor, and these sometimes led
to broad-ranging discussions. At each meeting there was
meditation and often chanting to quiet the mind and nourish
the spirit. By 1969 several thousand people were regularly
attending this weekly class, and a core group of them began
to consider Stephen as their spiritual teacher.
In the winter of 1969 the American Academy of
Religion held its meeting in San Francisco. A group of
ministers and theologians happened to wander in; they stood
at the back of the class and were moved by what they saw
and heard. After the meeting several of them stepped forward
to invite Stephen to speak at their own congregations and
classrooms across America–believing that he might be able
to help heal the rift between generations. Stephen agreed and
a tour was arranged. Two hundred or so of his students asked
if they could come along; any who could put together living
quarters on wheels joined the tour. In brightly painted school
buses, Volkswagen vans, trucks and campers they left San
Francisco in 1970, following Stephen as he spoke on college
campuses and in churches from coast to coast. Along the way
the group attracted other young people who “were searching
for identity, mission, and tribe.” After four months and
thousands of miles, the Caravan (as it was called) returned
to San Francisco. But after their shared Odyssey, the group
had become a tightly-knit community–a church. They agreed
to pool their money, head back to Tennessee, and buy some
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 448
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
land.
Thus, in May 1971, at the height of the counter-culture
movement, several hundred young people drove their school
buses into Lewis County, southern Tennessee. They had
been given permission to park (free of charge) on the Martin
Farm until they could fi nd their own land. They stayed on
the Martin Farm all that summer, then in the fall purchased
the Black ranch (1,000 acres)–less than ¼ mile away.
They founded America’s largest modern-day intentional
community–The Farm. It soon became known and admired
by people around the world.
It is said that The Farm had two phases–the Letting Go,
which was Monday Night Class, the Caravan, and the Martin
Farm. Then there was the Taking Hold–everything after that.
Farm members organized themselves on a communal
basis according to a passage in the Bible’s New Testament,
Book of Acts, 2:44-45, which says: “And all that believed
were together and had all things in common; and sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all as every man
had need.” Each member of the community had to sign this
vow of personal poverty. They ate a vegetarian diet–in fact a
vegan diet, which contained no animal products, and showed
many others how such a diet could be healthful, delicious,
and ethical. They started a “Soy Dairy” and used soyfoods
(such as soymilk, tempeh, tofu, soy yogurt, soy fl our, and
whole cooked soybeans) as a key protein source in their
diet. They generally used what extra money they had to help
impoverished people around the world–both in Third World
countries and in the USA. In the late 1970s they worked
with people in the village of Solola, Guatemala, to build an
innovative Soy Dairy (see p. 78-80, by Doug Stevenson),
then helped others start soyfoods businesses in the
Caribbean. They did pioneering work in spiritual midwifery,
publishing, and many other areas.
By 1977, there were 1,100 farm members and 14,000
visitors–many of whom spent the night. At the peak of its
population in 1982, The Farm was home to over 1,500
optimistic young people and the young at heart; about half
of these were children, since The Farm offered to raise the
child of any woman who was considering an abortion. The
community received 20,000 visitors that year alone, as many
as 200 on any given night.
But The Farm had one major problem: How to
fi nancially support its many members, visitors, and activities.
By the late 1970s The Farm had a large and rising debt, and
the interest on that debt was starting to get out of hand. By
1980 morale was defi nitely beginning to suffer. In 1983, after
much soul-searching, The Farm decided that no longer would
all things be held in common, except for the land. Many
people left; it was a diaspora. Each family (or person) who
remained would now be responsible for its own economic
survival.
From its beginnings in San Francisco in 1970, The Farm
has been an experiment in spiritual communal living. This