Brazilian Farmers are destroying the rainforest (?)

Brazil is infamous for its deforestation. You might scream: "It's the farmers' fault. They are destroying nature!"

Yes and no.

Yes, they burn trees, cut plants, and kill animals.

But it is us who motivate them to do so by

- buying their products

- price dumping and overconsumption

- consuming irresponsible and throwing food away

The farmers don't burn and destroy out of sheer lust.

2 possible ways out:

1. Creation of other possibilities for framers to make money

Like everybody else, they just want to survive, feed their families, and pursue happiness. One idea a friend of mine initiated:

We can help them to use nature and farmland for touristic purposes. This way, they can continue making money with the land without cutting or burning it down.

2. Responsible consumption

There is a famous saying: "When you point one finger, three fingers are pointing back to you."

It applies perfectly to this issue. In the end, we don't have a producer problem. We have a consumer problem. Just my take as a naive and blue-eyed gringo living in Brazil.

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Picture: Foz Do Iguaçu

Note: Did you know that the water of the Iguazu waterfalls once was crystal clear all year long? Due to deforestation for farmland, sediments and soil gets washed into the river by rainfalls, coloring the water brown when it rains extensively. As an effect, fish have problems reproducing, and mammals like leopards have problems finding prey in the water.

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