LXIX 
CHEESE FROM BEANS 
I SN’T IT ODD that Nature 
has developed a vegetable 
that man can use as a substi¬ 
tute for meat whenever cir¬ 
cumstances make it necessary! 
The humble bean of the 
fields is full of the very pro¬ 
teins that give beefsteak its 
value, and may, indeed, be used in its stead with little 
or no loss of body well-being. 
Cheese is also a nourishing and valuable food of animal 
origin and, though few Americans are aware of the fact, 
in the Orient millions of pounds of cheese are every year 
made of beans. The bean is the meat of the poor. In 
Mexico it is the staff of life of the peon, who is not able to 
buy meat. In Europe it is in much more general use than 
in America, and the people who eat it are well nourished. 
In Manchuria, China, Japan, and India vast quantities of 
beans are consumed and fill the place in the diet elsewhere 
occupied by meat. 
It is a less palatable food than meat and a bit harder to 
digest. If people can afford it, they prefer meat. In an 
emergency, however, they fall back on beans and get 
along quite well. 
The soy bean of China grows freely and abun¬ 
dantly and is extensively used as feed for stock in the 
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