[Zababa]

> Our meat consumption has lead to pasteurization of forest land to raise and feed the huge amount of livestocks needed to satisfy our meat craving

Where? France has increased its forest surface since 1840, while increasing population and meat consumption.

[cogman10]

Most nations are outsourcing their diets and problems, particularly in the EU.

France, for example, has been pulling a lot of their beef from south america rather than eating locally raised cattle.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20180117/french-farmers-fear-ruin-ov...

[Zababa]

The article isn't supporting your claims:

> The source of his worry is a huge trade deal being negotiated by the European Union and the four Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — an accord whose signature seems closer than ever.

> The new imports would represent just one percent of Europe's total beef production, and 4.5 percent of France's output.

So the deal hasn't been signed and wouldn't represent much.

From another article (https://www.franceagrimer.fr/fam/content/download/66996/docu...)

> Issues à près de 92 % de l’Union européenne, les importations de viande bovine chutent de 16,8 % sur un an, pour atteindre près de 283 milliers de tec en 2020

Which rougly translates to "92% of beef imports are coming from the UE. They fell by 16.8% to 283k tec in 2020".

There's a total in "tableau 2", page 3. 28.4% of the total meat is imported, 18.9% for the beef. The total non EU beef is thus 8% (100% of total beef imported - 92% of UE beef) * 18.9% (percentage of imported beef). Rounded up, it's 1.6%. I would hardly call that "outsourcing their diets and problems" and "pulling a lot of their beef from South America". More than 80% of the cattle eaten is localy raised, less than 2% comes from outside the EU.

South American beef is not a thing in France. We surely have plenty of other issues, but South American beef is not one of them.

[bakuninsbart]

Imports exist, and France is a major importer of meat. Meat production has become less land intensive compared to 200 years ago, but it is by far the worst way of producing food if you compare calory intake to land use.

[Zababa]

> Meat production has become less land intensive compared to 200 years ago, but it is by far the worst way of producing food if you compare calory intake to land use.

Most meat, at least in France, is raised on land that couldn't support other kind of agriculture. The calorie intake of that land, without cows grazing on it, would be 0.

[Glawen]

I doubt so, farmers in my village in France never take their cows out of the barn. They feed them with dry grass and fermented corn (ensilage) they grow.

Cow grazing is a thing of the past unless you do milk for AOP cheese or premium meat. By the way cheap beef in supermarket is actually old milk cow

[wumpus]

France doesn't use feedlots? In the US, half of the meat weight is added to cattle in feedlots, using 1/2 of US corn production.

[barry-cotter]

No European country does really. Nor do Australia and New Zealand to my knowledge. That’s why the beef tastes so much better. Cattle that are grass fed taste very different.

[wumpus]

https://idele.fr/?eID=cmis_download&oID=workspace://SpacesSt...

French beef and dairy-cattle-finally-eaten-as-beef eat 2/3 grass.

[barry-cotter]

Yes. You asked about feedlots. Europe pretty much doesn’t have them, as I said. Note that beef cattle are 80% grass fed according to the document. Dairy that are eventually eaten eat less grass, 2/3.

[dotsam]

> Forest replacement by cattle is most prevalent in Brazil and Paraguay

> Forest area replaced by cattle accounts for 36 percent of all agriculture-linked tree cover loss worldwide

https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/defore...

[samatman]

The lifecycle is more complex than this. Slash and burn agriculture is used to squeeze a few cash soybean crops out, this requires specific GMO soy, and these are 90% sold to China to fatten pigs.

When the land is only suitable for grass, it's grazed for awhile, after which it's basically desert.

South America also has some of the richest cattle land in the world in the Pampas, which has sustained beef production for hundreds of years on land which is otherwise unsuitable to food production.

Pressure on one company could stop the conversion of rainforest into soybeans. This doesn't solve the problem in a single stroke, nothing can, but it would help, and it doesn't require influence over the government of Brazil.