Soybean

• Second quarter 2023 gross and net written premiums were up 12% and 10%, respectively, when compared to the second quarter of 2022.
• The Property and Transportation Group reported an underwriting profit of $32 million in the second quarter of 2023, compared to $39 million in the second quarter of 2022.
• Catastrophe losses in this group were $15 million in the second quarter of 2023, compared to $19 million in the second quarter of 2022.
• The Specialty Financial Group reported an underwriting profit of $10 million in the second quarter of 2023, compared to $37 million in the second quarter of 2022.

• The Russia-Ukraine grain deal that has been critical to keeping global food prices stable and preventing famine is currently in tatters.
• So, what is the grain deal, and why is it so important to the global food supply chain?

What makes Ukraine such an important part of the global food supply chain?

• More than 400 million people relied on foodstuffs from Ukraine before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
• One key reason for that is Ukraine has approximately one-third of the world’s most fertile soil, which is known as chernozem, or black soil.

What happened when war broke out?

• Even before the war, famine was increasing across the globe.
• Other researchers have suggested global hunger is the highest it’s been since at least the early 2000s.

How did the grain deal come about?

• The U.N. and Turkey brokered what is officially known as the Black Sea Grain Deal with Ukraine and Russia on July 22, 2022.
• While the original agreement was to last 120 days, it has been extended several times since.
• Ukraine has exported more than 32 million tons of food products through the Black Sea since August 2022.
• The U.N. has estimated that the grain deal has reduced food prices by more than 23% since March 2022.

Why is the Black Sea so important for Ukrainian exports?

• Before the war, 90% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports were transported on the Black Sea.
• While Ukraine also ships its grain and other food over land through Europe, doing so costs a lot more and takes more time than sea exports.

Why did Russia say it’s pulling out of the deal?

• Over the following two days, it attacked Odesa with drones and missiles in one of the largest sustained assaults on the port.
• Russia also said it would deem any ship in the Black Sea bound for a Ukrainian port to be a legitimate military target.
• Chicago wheat futures, a global benchmark, are up about 17% since Russia left the deal.

• However, a new analysis from Chinese researchers not only strongly suggests soy foods are protective against breast cancer but also provides an explanation for the previous inconsistent findings.
• Having said that, several mechanisms for the proposed breast cancer protective effects of soy isoflavones have been proposed.
• When all studies were included in the analysis, higher consumers of soy foods were 23% less likely to report having breast cancer than the low consumers of soy foods.
• Soy was protective against both estrogen receptor positive breast cancer and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer.

• So many of us may be looking for cheaper alternatives.
• Lots of other ingredients can make foods puff and rise, give your meal a rich taste, or hold together ingredients.
• So try using some of these egg substitutes and save the real eggs for your breakfast.

Why are eggs so popular?

• Eggs are also versatile.
• We use them to make a range of savoury and sweet foods, sauces and drinks, not to mention breakfast.
• Their popularity and versatility lies in the unique characteristics of the two main parts of the egg – the white and yolk.

Eggs are versatile

• Eggs are a raising agent Beaten or whisked eggs act as a raising agent by creating pockets of air in foods, which expand with cooking, making the foods puff and rise.
• Eggs hold together other ingredients Eggs combine ingredients and hold them together during cooking.
• Eggs bind other liquids The liquid from eggs binds other liquids from other ingredients in the recipe into a soft, moist and tender mass.
• Eggs boost flavour The fat in egg yolks helps carry and release the flavour of some fat-soluble components of food.
• As eggs have different roles in cooking, you may need different egg substitutes depending on the outcome you want.

Aquafaba

• Generally, though, you use about two to three tablespoons of aquafaba to replace the volume of fluid from an egg.
• Nutritionally, aquafaba has small amounts of carbohydrate (about 2.6g/100 millilitre), and negligible levels of protein (about 1.3g/100 millilitre).
• You can also freeze aquafaba.

Vinegar and baking soda

Mixing a teaspoon of baking soda with a tablespoon of vinegar can replace an egg in most baked goods. This produces carbon dioxide, which is trapped into air pockets, and makes foods rise. This is a very cheap option, however its success may be limited by how heavy the rest of the ingredients are. This combination also has very little nutritional value.

Read more:
Is apple cider vinegar really a wonder food?

Commercial egg replacements

These are available at most supermarkets, are very cheap compared with eggs, have a long shelf life, and are easy to use, with instructions on the packaging. Typically, they contain different starches from potato, tapioca and pea protein (which act as leavening agents and form foams), along with raising agents. They are recommended for use in baked goods. However they have very little nutritional value compared to an egg.

Flaxseed meal and chia seeds

• Use either a tablespoon of flaxseed meal, or chia seeds, added to about three tablespoons of water.
• The gels can be used in baked goods, however this option isn’t as cheap as the others, and has a slight nutty taste.
• Both these seeds provide nutritional value.

Tofu

• However, you will need to use silken tofu and puree it.
• Tofu is highly nutritious and provides protein, fat, calcium, polyphenols and anti-oxidants.
• However, soy flour does not contain calcium, which tofu does.

Mashed fruit

Mashed bananas or applesauce are also used as egg substitutes. These mainly act to bind and hold moisture in the food and help carry the flavours. You also get the nutritional value of the fruit. Due to the natural sugar that in fruit, this will sweeten your baked goods so you will need to drop the sugar by about a tablespoon (or more) for each piece of fruit you add.