True Cost of a Burger

What do a research scientist from King’s College London, a legal prosecutor from São Paulo, a missionary from Bolivia, a Japanese university professor, and a physician from Toronto all have in common?

All were participants in the World Vegetarian Congress (WVC) held at Florianopolis, Brazil, November 8 to 14, 2004. Convening every two years and coordinated by the International Vegetarian Union, the World Vegetarian Congresses have been bringing vegetarians together for close to 100 years.

In 2004, the WVC was attended by over 600 people from 32 countries. Its popularity may be due to the spectacular scenery of Santinho Beach in southern Brazil. But holding a vegetarian event in beef-eating Brazil seemed a little unusual until I learned about how influential vegetarians might be in resolving Brazil’s greatest environmental concern: deforestation for cropland.

Earlier in 2004, the Center for International Forestry Research (www.cifor.cgiar.org) released a comprehensive report with damning new environmental facts:

• Brazil has the world’s largest commercial cattle herd and soon may be the biggest exporter of beef in the world. This has led to a frightening increase in deforestation due to the growth in international demand for beef.
• Cattle ranching, assisted by generous government subsidies, is the greatest single factor in Brazil contributing to deforestation (a 38 to 73 percent contribution to “altered forest area”).
• Area of deforestation rose from 41.5 million hectares in 1990 to 58.7 million in 2000. During this time, Brazil has lost an area of forest twice the size of Portugal.

Demand for Brazilian beef has increased because it has a lower risk of mad cow disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathey (BSE). (Many countries banned beef imports from Canada and the United States after several cases of BSE were discovered in 2003.)

Even logging and crop production come nowhere near the damaging effects of beef production. Factors such as the elimination of foot-and-mouth disease, currency devaluation, and huge government subsidies have sent production and sales through the roof. But at what cost? Unless urgent action is taken, reports the Center for International Forestry Research, the Amazon region will probably lose an additional area the size of Denmark over the next 18 months.

Often we forget that eating plant foods is more than just a healthful diet and an animal-friendly lifestyle. Our dietary habits have a huge impact on the environment and this is where we can all make a difference. With these new environmental threats, Brazilians are beginning to sit up and take notice of the need to protect their precious natural resources.

Until recently, Latin America had little involvement with the IVU; however, the Vegetarian Union of Latin America was launched during the Brazil Congress and is already planning another meeting in Bolivia next year. Perhaps organized vegetarianism can wield some
influence for environmental change in the region.

Interested in Attending?

The next Congress will be held in the sunny seaside destination of Goa, India, September 10-16, 2006. For more information, visit the International Vegetarian Union's website at ivu.org.