Global Agribusiness is Devouring the World's Last Forests. We Need Local Food Systems, Now.

[marmar]

from In These Times:


Global Agribusiness is Devouring the World’s Last Forests. We Need Local Food Systems, Now.
BY GAURAV MADAN


Editor's Note: This article was originally published by Mongabay News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

It was the middle of the afternoon in one of the world’s largest metropolises when the sky went black. Thousands of miles away, tens of thousands of fires raged, plunging Sao Paolo into darkness. For some, the blackout of Brazil’s largest city was a sign of humanity’s destructive course. A month later, across the globe in Indonesia, entire villages were swallowed by blood-red skies. Reports likened the Mars-like scenes to something from an apocalyptic film.

Last year in Brazil, fires set by illegal loggers and ranchers – and encouraged by neo-fascist President Jair Bolsonaro – were the worst in a decade. The burning Amazon sparked international protests and condemnation. Over 40,000 fires ravaged the lungs of the earth, blazing the path for soy and cattle production to expand ever deeper into the forest.

In Indonesia, palm oil companies that routinely drain peatlands and raze forests were once again guilty of burning large swaths of land for plantations. One report stated that 900,000 people suffered respiratory problems caused by smoke from the blazes.

All told in 2019, nearly 10,000 square miles of forests were destroyed between the Amazon and Indonesia. The impacts have been dire: increased greenhouse gases emissions, greater encroachment on Indigenous Peoples’ lands, and further destruction of endangered species habitat. .................(more)

http://inthesetimes.com/rural-america/entry/22626/agribusiness-deforestation-climate-change-land-murder-palm-oil-soy-cattle

[CatLady78]

1. This is so sucky

We are an insane species....
I think it sounds so nutty when techno futurists talk about colonizing other planets. We have fucked this one up..time to move

Maybe Agent Smith had a point...