in the atmosphere and prompts a drying of the climate to such a degree that rainfall can virtually cease. The end result of these different factors is desert. When this happens, those responsible move on and repeat the process elsewhere.
The environmental consequences of this destruction are immense but it is encouraged by political and social events. It is not only multinational beef and fodder companies that are responsible but the inequality in some countries. In Brazil, most of the fertile land is in the hands of a small class of rich landowners who cultivate a comparatively small area of their land. Consequently, poor farmers, with little knowledge of soil conservation, are forced to make their living by farming marginal soils and this further depletes the soil.
the most effective way of slowing down soil degradation and desertification is to reduce overgrazing
When drought strikes and crops fail, as in the appalling Ethiopian famines of the early 1980s, there is enormous sympathy in the affluent world. Few are aware – or are made aware – that their dietary practices play a part.
The Sahel region, of which Ethiopia is part, has suffered greatly from overgrazing by cattle. Herd sizes were increased dramatically when deadly sleeping sickness disease (trypanosomiasis) was chemically controlled and far more cattle were grazed than the land could sustain and the resulting land degradation resulted in famine.
When the images of human suffering were shown daily on TV the disaster was presented as an act of nature – it wasn’t! Most Sahel countries, including Ethiopia, reported an increase in exports of agricultural products – meat and fodder – during these desperate times. There was no shortage of food but it was the wrong kind. The reasons for the famine were political and economic and they usually are and are repeated all over the third world – hard currency earnings from the export of meat and fodder given preference over food for local consumption.
The main grazing animals across the world are increasingly cattle in order to fuel the hamburger culture and in an attempt to ape the West – West is best! However, as land degenerates and becomes unsuitable for cattle, goats and sheep are increasingly being grazed on the most marginal land and their appetite for almost any vegetation ensures virtually complete destruction. It really is the coup de grace.
The most effective way of slowing down soil degradation and desertification is to reduce overgrazing, deforestation and intensive agriculture. The only way to do that immediately and effectively is for people to change their diet – go vegan. There really is no other solution.
42 VIV A! DIET OF DIS A S TER
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