Up to 80,000 fires had been reported by the end of August in Brazil this year as the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, calls for more clearing of the Amazon rainforest to promote economic growth. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/flickr)
Protesters have descended on Minneapolis in recent weeks to demonstrate against agribusiness juggernaut Cargill, which is based near the city.
They are drawing attention to the company’s use of soybeans from Brazil and other countries clearing rainforest and savanna for the grain trade.
Fires in the Amazon during one week this summer increased 84 percent compared to the last dry season as farmers set fires to clear land for planting and cattle pastures.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has pushed for more private and commercial use of rainforest and other land that had previously been protected.
At the vanguard of protests against Cargill is Mighty Earth, a group founded by former California representative Henry Waxman.
The group last week led a rally against Cargill at the Minneapolis Art Institute in Minneapolis, which has support from the Cargill family. Other groups in Chicago and around the country have held related rallies calling for an end to Amazon clearing.
On Sept. 6, the presidents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Suriname signed an “Amazon Pact” to increase cooperation in the Amazon. Bolsonaro did not attend.
Watchdogs are connecting the dots between President Trump’s trade war with China, the world’s biggest soybean buyer, and increased land clearing in the Amazon as an alternative to meet soybean demand the U.S. no longer provides.
A Chinese state-owned oilseed and food company, COFCO, announced last month that it would buy 25 percent more soybeans from Brazil over the next five years and spend $60 million to help Brazilian farmers expand.
Read More:
Cargill Faces Fire Over Amazon (Progressive Farmer)
Follow The Money To The Amazon (Atlantic)
Are Farmers Setting The Amazon Ablaze In Support Of Bolsonaro? (Grist)
