Local Edamame / Soybeans?

LTH Friends,
I serve my family frozen Edamame pretty much weekly, because it is easy, delicious, and my young kids eat it with the enthusiasm of eating Mac & Cheese. I have noticed that the packages that I buy from Trader Joes, and my other family owned grocery store are from China. With the exception of the fresh edamame that I purchase from the farmer’s market (available only for a few weeks), and the few I grew in my own garden, I have never seen locally grown, frozen edamame. I find this odd, as I grew up in the western suburbs, less than 1 mile from a soybean farm. It is my understanding that the soybeans grown in the Midwest are of a different variety than the edamame soybeans that my family enjoys. Does anyone know where I can purchase locally grown edamame / soybeans?

Hi,

There was an exhibit on tofu at the Chinese-American Museum last year. They said the variety of soybean grown in Illinois has a black eye on the seed. This is a cosmetic defect for consumption as well as making tofu. While the docent did affirm there was a bit of politics/snobbery laced in there. She also said Illinois beans are intended for oil production, which is a different market.

If there is someone locally growing soybeans for fresh consumption, I have not heard of it. It will be interesting if someone here has a source.

Regards,

We stopped buying the Costco edamame for the same reason- noticed now that they are from the PROC. I thought they used to sell grown in the USA edamame.

Nicholl's Farm has sold 'em, but I'm sure the season has past now.