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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] UK demand for soya destroying Amazon
  • Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 10:42:43 -0600

Editor's Note: It takes approximately 5,000 liters of water to produce one
medium-sized steak. Likewise about 7 pounds of grain go into one pound of
beef. The growth of diets heavy in meat consumption combined with BSE
inspired bans on animal based feedstuffs means that more and more grains are
required for meat production. This in turn requires clearing land to grow
grain to feed cattle. This process can have devastating consequences for the
environment. This brief article shows that small changes in farming practices
can lessen the destruction.

UK demand for soya destroying Amazon

Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Saturday September 4, 2004
The Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk

The Amazon rainforest and savanna lands are being destroyed at a rate of 1.2m
hectares (3m acres) a year to feed Europe's insatiable desire for more soya
bean production, according to a research report yesterday.
The UK is one of the chief customers for South American soya production, and
the report says that by 2020 an area the size of Britain will have been
converted to grow the beans as the market grows by 60%.

Soya oil appears in hundreds of processed foods such as ice cream,
margarines, mayonnaise and lipsticks, but the biggest market is to feed farm
animals. Adam Harrison, rural development officer for WWF Scotland, said:
"The market has grown because feeding cattle animal protein was banned
following the BSE crisis, and soya is the high protein substitute."

The report says that soya production has led to vast tracts of land being
cleared in southern Brazil, and the near-disappearance of Brazil's Atlantic
rainforest. It says damage could be greatly reduced and production increased
by alternating the growing of soya with cattle ranching, which improves the
soil and increases yields of soya and from the cattle.

Mr Harrison said: "Our report concludes that fairly simple changes in farming
methods can save a lot of virgin land and have environmental and economic
benefits."

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  • [Livingontheland] UK demand for soya destroying Amazon, Tradingpost, 09/30/2004

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