Ink made from soybeans is a “wild” use of an agricultural product. A total of 1,500 daily newspapers in the United States are printed with ink that is made from a renewable resource grown on the farm. Try making soy ink and use it to print your own cards and stationery.

History:

In the late 1970s, the Newspaper Association of America  was looking for different ways to make ink, rather than by using the standard petroleum-based ink. Rising prices for petroleum and quarrels with OPEC countries were reasons they wanted to find a more reliable and cost efficient method of printing. After testing over 2,000 different vegetable oil formulations, researchers for the NAA came up with the solution of using soybean oil. In 1987, soybeans were tested by The Gazette from Iowa in a practical printing run. The test was successful. About one quarter of commercial printers in the United States now use soy ink.The National Soy Ink Information Center was established in 1993 by the Iowa Soybean Association to promote research and use of soy ink. The center created the Soy Seal mark used to identify products meeting basic requirements. The success of soy ink was judged to be sufficient to justify the closing of the National Soy Ink Information Center in 2005. Use of the SoySeal is now regulated by the American Soybean Association.