Is “Soy-Free” Really Better...Or Is It Just Another Trendy Label?

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February 12, 2025

Before we dive in, I will say that our farm has only used soy-free feed for our egg laying birds and pigs, but in the last few years we’ve switched our meat birds over to soy-free as well. There is a growing concern about the amount of soy our population consumes, and the health implications that may have. This has made its way down to concerns about what the animals that we eat are fed, and rightly so. Soy is fed to many animals because it’s an excellent source of protein, which is what is needed to grow animals out. It’s also cheap, as it’s easy to grow and subsidized by our government. So, if you’re buying meat and eggs from the store, you can bet the animal is eating a diet that includes soy. But, because I’m always looking to learn and grow, I have questions; and one is, have we gone too far with this? Or, a better question is, have we thrown the baby out with the bath water, so to speak? Let’s dive in.

Recently, one of my favorite farmers and mentors, Joel Salatin of Polyface farms, shared some very interesting and valuable information regarding soy in animal feed on his blog. Someone paid a pretty penny to have testing done to find out the differences in nutritional values between whole, toasted soy beans vs soybean meal. The reason? Because many people have demonized soy beans as a protein source for pigs and chickens due to their higher concentrations of estrogen and PUFAS (Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, specifically linoleic acid), which is an Omega 6 fatty acid.

I am one of those people, for the record. For the purpose of this blog, we are focusing on the PUFA/linoleic acid content, as this is what the study was focused on, not the estrogen. We will touch back on that in a bit. PUFAS, in some circles, are cited to be problematic when too high in one’s diet due to their inflammatory properties. Most people are consuming too many of these Omega 6 fats in comparison to Omega 3 fats through seed oils in highly processed foods, but some argue that animals fed soy are just as problematic to eat as they have higher concentrations of PUFAS in their fat and eggs. Other concerns come from people who have soy allergies and find that they can’t eat eggs and chicken meat from birds fed soy. They have reactions to it through the eggs and meat. We never fed soy to our laying hens, but we had multiple customers say they couldn’t eat chicken from other farms but could from ours. They thought it was the soy in the other chickens’ diet, but clearly it wasn’t an issue with ours.

Salatin had a theory that the reason animals fed soy in their diets had a higher PUFA content, causing some people to react to the meat, was because they were fed soybean meal, and not whole, toasted soy-beans. But all the studies that have been done in the past showing linoleic acid percentages didn’t disclose whether it was for soybean meal or whole soybeans. Testing products is very costly and until someone came along to pay for it themselves, he just went along with his assumption and carried on feeding his chickens toasted, whole soybeans. So, what did they find when they did the study?

The whole soybeans contained a percentage of linoleic acid that was between 16-20%. The Soybean meal contained 50-58%.

That is a huge difference, which seems shocking as it’s still soybeans. The thing is, this shouldn’t be that shocking as we know that eating whole foods is always better than processed foods. Soybean meal is a processed food. When we’re eating the complete package, our bodies recognize how to digest and parse out the things it needs and discarding the things it doesn’t. When it’s highly processed, like soybean meal, it changes things, including the concentration of nutrients.

What’s more fascinating is that Salatin shared the percentages for the common replacements for soy and here are those results.

Canola meal came in at 30-40%, Sunflower seeds at 40-60%, Linseed at 40-60%, Rice at 18-20%, Peas at 10-15% and Fish meal at 10-15%.

What does this mean? It means that 50% of the replacement feed ingredients attempting to be “better” are actually higher in linoleic acid than whole soybeans, and 50% of them are equal to or slightly lower than. What’s more is that the higher percentage replacement feeds are actually the most common, not the lower ones. Fish meal can actually change the taste of the chicken meat, giving it a slightly fishy flavor. We didn’t find that when we used fish meal, but I’ve heard this from others and so did our feed farmer, warning us that he couldn’t go too high on that or it would taste “off.”

The other kicker to all of this is the fact that soybeans are easy to grow locally, where many of these other options are not and must be trucked in from far away. As a farm that’s attempting to source as local as possible, it doesn’t make sense to truck in a product from far away that isn’t even a better protein source as far as PUFAS and linoleic acid are concerned.

Other issues with conventional feeds that are being used in conventional farming practices is that many of them also include canola oil, which is also a seed oil and high in linoleic acid. So it makes sense that conventional animals being fed canola oil and soybean meal have a higher percentage of omega 6 fats (PUFAS).

So the question, again, have we thrown the soybean baby out with the bathwater? If all of this information is factual, why then would I choose to continue to pay more for feed that is not actually superior to whole soybeans? In fact, the protein content is still lower in the soy-free feed we get, which causes the birds to grow out slightly slower. As a business, all of these details matter. However, every day I get more and more people emailing me about how excited they are that we offer soy-free chicken as this new phrase has grown in popularity. A phrase that I myself have brought attention to, hoping to help more people eat “better” meat. I’m questioning it all now, as you can see. I haven’t decided if we will discontinue “soy-free” chicken yet, but I do need to make this decision soon as my farmer must custom order the ingredients to replace the soy, which takes time because it’s coming from out of state. Can you see my conundrum here?

Let’s touch back on the estrogen concerns with soy as a protein source for poultry. I learned about this as mainly a concern eating their eggs and livers. What’s interesting though, is that Joel Salatin also shared this bit in another blog post…”A two-year study commissioned by the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association on the estrogen issue revealed that the highest amounts were in pastured chickens allowed to eat clover.” If you aren’t aware, chickens love clover and it’s plentiful in the pasture. Have we missed the mark on this concern as well?

While I am all for questioning the status quo and looking beyond labels and making big changes, I often wonder if we have gone to the extremes, unnecessarily, with some of these things. Myself included. I do believe guzzling loads of soybean oil and protein through processed foods is likely having negative effects on the bodies of those that are doing this. But I’m having a hard time believing that eating animals that are living a species appropriate life outside, in the sunshine, rotated regularly and also able to eat a varied diet which can include clover and whole soybeans is having the same negative effects. I can see though, that maybe there is cause for concern with soybean meal vs whole soybeans.

Unfortunately I don’t believe we’re going to get clearer answers to these questions today, or anytime soon. But I am open to learning more along the way. For now, I don’t know what will come of all of this. Despite sharing this information, there will still be people that can not let go of the fear of eating animals that have eaten soy. As a farmer who is trying to do the most good and be as accessible to as many people as possible, we have to take a hard look at all of the options as well as what the majority of our customers want.

What I can say for certain, when I talk to my feed farmer for this years order, if we choose soy-free again, we will not allow any of the replacements that come with high levels of linoleic acid like sunflower, flax, canola, or linseed. Which leaves us with field peas or fish meal. If he is unable to get those options this year, which has happened in the past, then I can’t in good conscience go soy-free. As I see it now, it’s not better in any way with all of the information I’ve shared today. I will continue to research this and pivot as needed, but for now, if we go with organic, whole, toasted soy-beans (which is what our farmer has always used) then the burden will be on me to continue to educate customers in the hopes to bring new light on the topic.

I encourage you to read the blog posts done by Joel on this topic that inspired this post.

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/8/2/2019/nbspsoy-free-chicken

https://polyfacefarms.com/blog/soy

So, what do you think? Does soy in the feed sound as bad as we thought?

I also want to say, I’m no expert in this area and may have missed some details that could be important. This is an open conversation that I invite people to join in on and I’d love to read credible information that can push me further in either direction.

Lastly, I know someone will ask, can we offer both soy-free and regular? Well, yes but also no. We did that last year and it's a logistical nightmare at our size, both with feed as well as the chicken inventory in our freezers. We also need to order a large amount of soy-free feed in order to make it economical for us and our feed farmer. So only getting enough for some of our chickens makes that tricky. Just more things to consider.

Grocery Store Egg Shortages, What Does It Mean?

In 2009, the state of Michigan passed a bill that would require all farms with over 3,000 birds, selling eggs within the state, to move to a cage free system. Originally all stores had until 2019 to begin sourcing from cage-free farms. However, many believed that wasn’t enough time so it was extended to 2025. According to MDARD, this is what is required Hens must be free to roam unrestricted in indoor environments. Farm employees must be able to provide care to hens while standing in the hen’s usable floor space within indoor environments. Whether in indoor or outdoor environments, hens must be given enrichments that allow them to exhibit natural behaviors. Cage systems commonly described as battery cages, colony cages, enriched cages, enriched colony cages, or any similar cage system cannot be included within indoor or outdoor environments. Farmers within the state had 16 years to make the necessary changes. Stores had 16 years to search for producers that met the new criteria, whether from within the state or not. Now that it’s 2025, many stores are seeing extreme egg shortages around here. My opinion is that it’s a mix of issues all happening at once. First off, let’s not forget about the bird flu wreaking havoc on the commercial chicken farms. I was unable to find specific numbers for egg laying flocks, but since 2022 it’s well over 130 million birds killed. It looks like 63 million or so were egg producing chickens, but don’t quote me on that. For the record, these are not birds that died from bird flu, but the number of birds killed to prevent the spread. If one chicken tests positive within a house of thousands, they all go. Chicken farmers are taking a huge hit, no doubt. So when they are also required to make large financial investments to meet new state requirements, in my opinion, I think they just took their business elsewhere rather than comply. Only 10 states, Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Utah, so there are plenty of states to sell to still. I’m betting there are more that will switch on the horizon, but knowing how much goes into these massive chicken houses, financially, it’s not shocking that a lot of farms didn’t make the switch. Especially after taking so many blows from bird flu. We also can’t forget about inflation. The cost of everything is up, including the cost of eggs. Many producers are being squeezed out by rising operating costs, causing farms to close, which of course drives the price of the eggs up. This is not just an egg producer issue of course. It’s across all of agriculture. From the giants to the tiny farms. Also, it’s winter in Michigan, so all your local, pasture based egg dealers are low our out of stock. Remember, eggs are a seasonal product when the hens are raised outdoors without artificial lights and heated barns. The other day, I shared my opinion on social media that was mostly met with nods of agreement, but a few misunderstood me. You can go read and watch the post I made on Instagram, if you missed it. Not on social media? The gist is that eggs were never supposed to be a cheap product in the commercial setting, and it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s all falling apart now. The business has been propped up by cheap feed subsidized by the government while cramming thousands of birds in small spaces. Eggs were only a super cheap source of nutrients when people raised their own hens and fed them kitchen scraps. But as far as “cheap” nutrients go, at $8 a dozen, one egg costs .67, which is 2 ounces for a large egg. This makes it .34 ish cents per ounce. For the amount of nutrients you get in one egg that isn’t “cheap”, it’s still pretty inexpensive compared to most other foods. Ya know what Cheetos cost per ounce, which is negative nutrition? $.85 per ounce if you buy a 3.5 ounce bag for $2.99 at Target. If you want to argue that you don’t eat the shell of the egg, then you can still double the cost per ounce and it’s still less than the Cheetos. Gas station food, which is the primary source for some peoples groceries, is not cheap when you look at the cost per ounce as well as the nutrients that it has, or does not have. I highly recommend looking at Sustainable Dish’s information on this. The handful of people that misunderstood me called me insensitive or elitist for saying eggs were never meant to be cheap. I’m not sure how that’s insensitive, as I never indicated that I was happy about the change to cage-free and that the store shelves are empty. I was just stating why this is likely happening. I also shared in my stories that I actually think it’s a waste of time and resources to force these farms to go cage free, as it’s just another form of greenwashing. The birds are no better off, in fact likely worse off as they no longer have the protection of a cage from the other thousands of birds they now must share one large barn space with. Their beaks and toes are still cut to prevent pecking each other to death and they still never see a blade of grass, bug, or sunlight. All this bill does is make the “cheap” eggs more expensive, or not available at all, hurting those who can’t afford to pay more for eggs. I’d like to make it very clear for anyone that’s still reading that two things can be true at the same time. It’s true that I wish all the animals we eat could live the best lives ever while they are in our care. That their feed comes from regenerative farms that don’t use sprays and pollute our water. But It’s also true that I want people to be able to afford nutrient dense foods, like eggs, and a lot of people are unable to prioritize this. I also think it surprises people to know that I don’t want the government involved in anyway shape or form. I don’t even want them to force farms to go organic, regenerative, or whatever the label d’jour is. I think people should have the choice, whether it be due to financial or personal reasons, to support any farm they like. But it’s not a fair playing field when the government subsidizes the big farms, but not the little ones. Those big farms wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the government intervention. I know that a lot of people think that’s good, or no one would be able to afford to eat. But I disagree with that. I think they make more problems that keep people from being able to afford the things they need/want. But that’s another conversation. All this to say, I don’t have any answers about how to help those who can’t afford $8-$10 eggs and can only afford or source from the gas station. That was never the point of my post, nor did it need to be. It’s not all or nothing. It’s also not black and white, and name calling for not having all the answers doesn’t do anyone any good. The sooner we accept that, the sooner people can have real dialogues about how to move forward in feeding our communities.

Is “Soy-Free” Really Better...Or Is It Just Another Trendy Label?

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Grocery Store Egg Shortages, What Does It Mean?