Posted on 05/31/2005 11:12:03 AM PDT by mnehring
Vegetarians are killing the rainforest, Dramatic rise in Soy Consumption threate..
The following transcript is from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio show "The Current", and aired this morning. You can read the full article on the attached link.
Soy Beans - Greenpeace
It's been called the "Magic Bean" -- hailed by nutritionists as a wonderfood---it's rich in protein and apparently cuts the risks of all kinds of diseases. We're talking about the soy bean. And we’re afraid we’ve got some bad news about a food that's been called "nature's medicine".
Precisely because of these many health claims, there has been a dramatic rise in soy consumption around the world. And while soy bean producers and traders have been rubbing their hands gleefully, environmentalists are worried about the crop's popularity--especially in Brazil. Because as long as soy remains lucrative, more saws will continue clear bigger swaths of the Amazon rainforest.
Environmental group Greenpeace has been loudly criticizing the Brazilian government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. It says President Lula should be restricting soy plantations to areas that are already cleared. On the line from Brazil we were joined by Paulo Adario. He works for Greenpeace and is the Co-ordinator for the Amazon Project. We reached him in Manaus, the capital of the Amazon state in Brazil.
Soy King Farmer
Brazil is the second biggest soy bean exporter in the world. And its biggest soy bean producer is a Brazilian company called Amaggi Group, owned by a man named Blairo Maggi--also known in Brazil as the "King of Soy".
But the king is also the Governor of Mato Grosso, a state responsible for half of the Amazon deforestation in 2003 and 2004. Last week we arranged for an interview with the governor, but as of this morning we were still unable to reach him. His company representatives also refuse to be interviewed on the subject.
We can tell you this. The governor is on the record as denying that soy production leads to the rainforest's destruction. In an interview he gave Reuters news service last week, he said he encourages sustainable farming, claiming almost half of the rainforest cut down in his state last year was legal and that 95 percent of the illegal loggers had been fined. He also said it's been 10 years since his own company actively cleared land for soy production.
HA HA!
I actually enjoyed Rainforest Crunch by Ben & Jerrys until it was withdrawn for some PC reason.
I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.
BWAHAHAHAHA!!
Soybeans---Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!
Edamame is good food, and soymilk is yummy too!
I am a devoted rainforest destroyer.
AhahahahahahaHA!
This reminds me of the debate surrounding wind farms in Appalachia.... is there a more clean source of energy? Yet it vexes the environmental crowd so deeply. Wacthing it is almost like torturing your cat as a unruly teenager!
Ewwwwww. Soy milk tastes like grass. gag.
Is there anything that will make Greenpeace happy?
Now it's angry with people growing TOO many soybeans?
Bunch of whining maggots.
Phew. Feel better now.
So we either need to produce more food on the land we have, or we need to clear more land to grow food.
And you know which is easier to do.
TS
90% per cent of us have got to die to same the world!!!!!! I am going to miss you guys.
I love soybeans too.. People will think I'm nuts, but one of my favorite foods is tofu baked with miso. No, I'm not a vegitarian..
Hilarious.
LoL! You may be sorry for what you wish.
The ONLY justification for the existence of tofu is miso soup.
Its always something.
Well, of course. Vegetarians eat plants. The rainforest is made of ....... plants!!
Ping!
Great source of revenue and you don't have to do any work. Talking about the people who get the fines, not the loggers. That's called eating your cake and having it too.
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