Is Mcdonalds Destroying The Rainforest?

[princeofvegas 0]

I am surprised that the McDonalds issue has not been brought up in the debates.

America imports over 200 million pounds of beef from Central America every year. Aside from the fossil fuels used for transporting those animals, grazing land is also needed. The only way for grazing land to appear in a densely forested region is from clear-cutting the forests and the rain forest. A recent Smithsonian study claims that the need for more grazing land means that every minute of every day, a land area equivalent to seven football fields is clear cut in the Amazon basin.
For each cheeseburger that’s been obtained from animals raised on rain forest land, about 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed. That’s just in Central America. The problem hits America closer to the heartland as well. In the United States, more than 260 million acres of forest have been clear-cut for animal agriculture. With increased per capita meat consumption, and a constantly growing population, there will only be more deforestation in the future. This is likely to accelerate faster as the economic downturn continues, and many lower income families turn to fast food as an alternative fresh food (which is more expensive) to feed their families.

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