ISRC’s SoyFest Highlights the Many Uses of Soy
October 18, 2023
In celebration of Soybean Month in Iowa, the ISRC hosted its second biennial SoyFest on August 23. The free, outdoor event on ISU’s central campus was once again a big hit with students during their first week of fall classes at ISU. Students learned about the everyday and new and emerging uses of soy through a variety of vendors, ISU research labs and student clubs and were treated to free foods containing soy. HyVee served grilled pork burgers (processed soy) and soy-veggie Impossible Burgers, Old Capitol Food Company allowed students an opportunity to try tofu, Laura Soybeans provided their “Tosteds” (dry roasted soybeans), Iowa Smokehouse provided pork sticks and the ISU Creamery served up SoyFest soy-beverage-based ice cream with chocolate covered roasted soybeans. Students were also treated to soy-related giveaways and a special student drawing for prizes.
USDA-ARS provided soybean plants to show their different growth stages, and a host of ISRC research affiliates from entomology and the Iowa Pest Management group including researchers Daren Mueller, Erin Hodgson and Matt O’Neal were on hand to display and talk about different insects, as well as Randall Cass from ISU’s Bee Program. The labs of Arti and Danny Singh (agronomy), Eric Cochran (chemical and biological engineering) and Lie Tang (agricultural and biosystems engineering) provided hands-on technological demonstrations. The Brian DeDecker Lab from the University of Colorado had a booth in which they explained their research, including developing soybeans that produce milk proteins critical for infant development.
The Iowa Soybean Association and the Food and Family Project shared a tent complete with a photo booth and Plinko game, SynLawn hosted a putting green made with soy-backed grass and Columbia Forest Products provided a wooden “Soyhole” beanbag toss game made with their PureBond® soy-based adhesive plywood.
Additional participating businesses and groups contributing to SoyFest 2023 included Corteva Agriscience, Chevron-REG, Okabashi Shoes, Ames Ford Lincoln and numerous ISU undergraduate student clubs. Special thanks to Brandon Kleinke from the Iowa Pest Management group for taking video of the day.
