ysmad Green Tip:
Eat less meat
Cattle pastures eat away rainforests.
- »In Brazil, the greatest single threat to the Amazon rain forests is beef production for global markets« ("The End of the wild", Stephen M. Meyer)
- »The forest gives way to cattle ranches or soybean farms. Ninety-five percent of these soybeans are used to feed livestock and poultry in Europe and Asia. And so, a forest is turned into meat.« (movie "HOME" - watch online at http://www.youtube.com/homeproject).
- »By 1983, in response to the excellent U.S. market for beef, Costa Rican landowners had accelerated the creation of new pastures until only 17 percent of the country's original forest cover was left« ("The Diversity of Life", Edward O. Wilson)
- »In 1960 three-quarters of Guatemala was covered by forest. In the next decade, as a result of oil money and international loans, cattle ranching increased (...). By 1990, about a quarter of the country was forested, and perhaps 2 percent of the original frontier forest survived.« ("Strangely like war - The global assault on forests", Derrick Jensen, George Draffan).
Even if the meat is produced locally - cheap food crops still account for rainforest loss. The remedy is quite easy: "We simply need to consume less meat, especially less beef, if we don't want us to be directly guilty of rainforest destruction. This must be made a campaign." (Renate Kuenast, Spiegel magazine 21/2008; Germany's Federal Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture 2001-2005). So: put more green on your grill. There is more than corn and carrots! :o)
More green tips to protect rainforests and their biodiversity:
- Donate for rainforest protection
- Let life live where it belongs
- Spend your XMas money in something really necessary!
- While supporting your (domestic) pet, also support wild animals
- Don't leave your car idling
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