[hypertele-Xii]

Reminder that the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed, in Brazil, as we speak, to grow more beef. Let that sink in.

[brandmeyer]

Beef is not to blame for this, though. Beef just happens to be the most economical right now. If it wasn't beef, it would be something else. Possibly soybeans since they are the world's largest exporter of them.

[Vivtek]

It's almost like Brazil is switching from a crop (oxygen) which pays nothing to another (beef - or literally any other use of that land) which will.

If the richer nations cared about the Amazon rainforest, we'd pay rent on it.

[fartcannon]

It's not to grow beef, it's to make money. If we all went vegan tomorrow, they'd grow soybeans there.

Now lets start to argue over what plants to replace the rainforest with and we've lost to point.

The rain forest is being destroyed for greed. Fix greed and you can fix the planet.

[hypertele-Xii]

Human consumption of soybeans requires less farmland than human consumption of beef, because humans can eat the plants the cows would've needed to eat.

So less rainforest needs to be felled for the same amount of nutrition.

Arguing what the land should be used for is the point. Some uses are more destructive than others.

"If we didn't put gasoline in our vehicles, we'd just put something else in them, so arguing over what to put in our vehicles for fuel is besides the point."

[asdff]

Whether they grow soybeans or beef or doing whatever they are cutting the same amount of trees. The crop choice doesn't change the fact that forests aren't protected, and the market will expand to fill available space like a gas.

[hypertele-Xii]

Have you ever cut a tree? It's hard work. No one clears forest unless it makes for profit. If beef doesn't sell, there's no need for excess farmland.

[asdff]

If beef doesn't sell the landowner will grow something else that does sell. They own the land, they don't want it to sit idle.

[Vivtek]

Brazil is well within their rights to say, "Fuck you. Pay me."

[bookofsand]

The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed to grow more money. Money is fungible, if beef were banned they's cut the forest to do something else with the land.

[david422]

If it's being cut down for beef it _might_ be cut for something else. You can only control what you can control. Maybe ecotourism would be more lucrative if beef were off the market.