Soya-bean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Soya-bean - Essay Example However, now doubts have been raised by scientists, doctors and nutritionists that soy is not that healthy after all and that soy poses special health risk A very interesting account of the historical travel of the soy plant in the Western world has been documented by Hymowitz (1990). While his idea that the soy plant was a saviour, or manna from heaven itself, for many people can be and is subjected to much debate, the historical account of the origin of the plant is well worth a read. Soya bean is a gift to the new world from the ancient oriental (Chinese , Japanese civilization). Before we take up the issue of the actual debate of the nutrient value and the positive and negative effects of this miracle plant, it would be worthwhile to have a brief glimpse into the origin and historical path travelled by it. Recorded history traces of its origin dates back to 2838 BC in China and to 6th century in Japan. Ibn Europe the records show an introduction of the plant as late as the 17th century , with America eventually catching up. Nonetheless, the USA produces one-third of the world's supply and indeed has seen a rise in the actual sales of soy product by nearly 3 times in the past decade. Like most legumes and beans, soy bean... Interestingly they also contain a high proportion of fat, however since this is mostly unsaturated fat, the effects of such lipid forms are mostly beneficial for an individual. However it is important to address that this nutrient content profile is applicable to Whole Foods and not Supplements. Much of the research to date has examined dietary soy in the form of whole foods such as tofu, "soymilk," or as soy protein added to foods, and the public health community mostly concurs that these whole foods can be worthwhile additions to a healthy diet. The recently raised concerns, however, focus on specific components of soy, such as the soy isoflavones daidzein and genistein, not the whole food or intact soy protein. In this respct we need to understand the nutrient content of soy been at the micronutrient level. This is also important since there has been an increase in chemicals, available over the counter in pills and powders, which are both, advertised and marketed as dietary supplements for use by women to help lessen menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes. While it may be possible that soy bean, in whole food has some efficacy for improving a lot of diseased condition, it is imperative to understand that teasing out individual chemicals would not be a good practice. This problem has been very accurately summarised by Wood; "There are probably hundreds of protective compounds in soy [foods]. It's just too big a leap to assume that a pill could do the same thing" (Woods, 2000). The need to exercise caution hence is clear and care must be taken in hailing soy as the food that can do only good. Nonetheless, there is much effect in the literature which supports the increased prevalence of soy bean as a health food. C Soybean as Food While not every form

Corporate Social Responsibility for Multi-national Organizations Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility for Multi-national Organizations - Essay Example Companies like GE, BP, Starbucks, Dell, Pfizer, and Apple are loved and hated by many people for many different reasons (Colvin, 2006). However, none of these companies can afford their brand name and image to be tarnished in any way. Undoubtedly, we are living in the information age and even rumors about a company’s suppliers maltreating employees in China, or the company’s employees facing racial as well as gender based discrimination can have real effects on the bottom line of the company. Even though it is possible for a company to be appreciated based on its financial performance alone (Forbes, 2005), greater appreciation comes with social responsibility along with financial performance (Natural Health, 2005). The combination of these two forces means that a company has to be extremely careful in maintaining its image as well as its profits. Social responsibility is not merely an idea for exceeding the ethical responsibility of a company; it is the chance to seek out an image that has remained exclusively in the domain of NGOs and social organizations i.e. being a ‘green’ company. While this implies being environmentally friendly, the environment includes a lot more than making sure that the smokestacks of the industry do not create more than an acceptable level of pollution. In the context of social responsibility, the environment also includes the business environment of the company including who supplies material to the firm and who buys its products. Strangely enough, GE has been rated as the most admired company in America (Fisher, 2006) as well as the world (Demos, 2006) yet it has only published two corporate responsibility reports in all its existence. The first one was published in 2005 and the second one was published this year (GE, 2006). Considering that several other companies have been publishing such reports since 1995,