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demmiblue

(36,744 posts)
Fri Aug 23, 2019, 02:12 PM Aug 2019

The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat

(CNN)While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an "international crisis," they are hardly an accident.

The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country's so-called "beef caucus."

While this may be business as usual for Brazil's beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror.

So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.

It's an idea that Finland has already floated. On Friday, the Nordic country's finance minister called for the European Union to "urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports" over the Amazon fires.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- a figure that could rise in the coming years.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/americas/brazil-beef-amazon-rainforest-fire-intl/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_content=2019-08-23T13%3A30%3A03&utm_source=twCNN&utm_medium=social
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The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat (Original Post) demmiblue Aug 2019 OP
Too simplistic tman Aug 2019 #1
Nah, it is spot on (though I don't think you read the article). n/t demmiblue Aug 2019 #5
American cattle have lots of fat; Central American and Brazilian cattle typically do not ... eppur_se_muova Aug 2019 #2
We definitely do. The U.S. has sinned against Nature this way for many years. theophilus Aug 2019 #3
Should read "too much meat". roody Aug 2019 #4
Insanity BruceWane Aug 2019 #6
Eating meat not the problem Pantagruel Aug 2019 #7
No, in this case it is about eating/producing meat. demmiblue Aug 2019 #8
Try an impossible whopper MFM008 Aug 2019 #9
Meat free since 1991. Don't miss it for one single second. Coventina Aug 2019 #10
The Amazon is burning due to greed. And genocide is being perpetrated airmid Aug 2019 #11

eppur_se_muova

(36,227 posts)
2. American cattle have lots of fat; Central American and Brazilian cattle typically do not ...
Fri Aug 23, 2019, 02:22 PM
Aug 2019

... so US slaughterhouses blend American and Brazilian beef in just the right proportion of fat to beef to get just the right blend for hamburgers.

Boycott hamburgers and ground beef, wherever they are sold. Try an Impossible Whopper, even if you don't eat at BK for any other reason ever.

And make your own bean burgers.

theophilus

(3,750 posts)
3. We definitely do. The U.S. has sinned against Nature this way for many years.
Fri Aug 23, 2019, 02:32 PM
Aug 2019

I hope we can make imitation meat in vast quantities and quick if it is better for the planet. The Republican Planet Killers will not go quietly though. We will all starve if this continues. Let's just choose to eat much less beef. It would be better to restore the plains and let the bison roam again. They could produce meat at much less cost to our planet.

BruceWane

(345 posts)
6. Insanity
Fri Aug 23, 2019, 02:48 PM
Aug 2019

Hearing about this over the past few days, in the context of the climate crisis, the thought occurred to me........

This is like setting fire to your fire truck. For a barbecue.

 

Pantagruel

(2,580 posts)
7. Eating meat not the problem
Fri Aug 23, 2019, 02:52 PM
Aug 2019

Too many people eating anything is the problem. We need GLOBAL population control FAST!!!!
It's going to be ugly if we let Malthusian solutions do it for us.

demmiblue

(36,744 posts)
8. No, in this case it is about eating/producing meat.
Fri Aug 23, 2019, 02:57 PM
Aug 2019

That is why they are burning the rainforest. To make room for cattle.

airmid

(500 posts)
11. The Amazon is burning due to greed. And genocide is being perpetrated
Fri Aug 23, 2019, 03:20 PM
Aug 2019

against the guardians of the Amazon.

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