February 6, 2024 Henry Ford’s ingenious idea
In the early 1930s, businessman Henry Ford had a problem on his hands: amid a widespread crisis in the USA, fights with cartels and steel rationing, he needed to find an alternative way to continue producing his cars at an affordable price. One of his way out was to look at the countryside, starting from materials such as soy, wheat, corn, and hemp to imagine a car made of “agricultural plastic”. After years of research and financing, Ford introduced the Soybean Car to the public in 1941, a concept car that was a ton lighter than vehicles of the time and, if mass-produced, would help the country save about 10% of its total steel production. And more: the car would run on fuel also generated from burning hemp.