Controversial issue of soy: MEPs become clear – “The shit stays there”

Created: 09/18/2022, 11:42 am

By: Franziska Schwarz

Cattle eat soy, the cultivation of which in turn is at the expense of the rainforest (symbol image).

© Stephan Goerlich/Imago

The steak is only available if the beef had feed.

For food, however, the rainforest has to give way.

Green Agriculture Minister Özdemir also sees that the issue is currently burning.

Brussels – The gas crisis, the Ukraine war, the upcoming autumn with its new corona rules: there is hardly any energy left for the debates about climate and sustainable agriculture.

The MEP Maria Noichl has now also reminded of these crises with pithy words: "We all know that when we import soya and export meat, the shit stays there."

quoted the SPD politician with these words.

Along with palm oil, sugar and meat, soy is currently one of the most important global raw materials.

The cultivation of soya as fodder for cattle and other livestock has been greatly expanded in recent decades - with the result that forests are disappearing in tropical and subtropical countries.

Last week, the European Parliament's Environment Committee proposed only allowing products in the EU that do not contribute to global deforestation.

Around ten percent of global deforestation results from EU consumption. 

Özdemir and the soy problem: "Valuable forest is lost"

The Brazilian Amazon region is currently experiencing the worst fires in almost five years.

Between June and October is forest fire season in Brazil.

In most cases, the trees are felled first and then the cleared areas are set on fire to create new pastures and farmland for soybean cultivation.

Because the rainforest in the Amazon region can bind immense amounts of the greenhouse gas CO2, it is also of great importance for the global climate.

Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) also said in the summer that local agriculture should not lead to deforestation in other parts of the world: "Then we'll talk about the fact that soy is grown in Brazil, which is then fed here," said Ozdemir.

"We are helping to ensure that valuable forest is lost."

Controversy over soy: Better for human consumption than for animals?

International organizations have meanwhile spoken out in favor of a reorientation towards more plant-based nutrition in Germany and Europe.

Among other things, they called for “a prioritization of plant cultivation for human consumption rather than for animal feed or energy production”.

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The high grain prices could be reduced in the short term, “if pig fattening in Europe and thus the high demand for animal feed are temporarily curbed quickly and effectively, with compensation for the affected farms,” explained the agricultural expert at the Catholic aid organization Misereor, Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein. 

Wildfires in the Amazon: "Breaking records this year"

Back to the Amazon: The topic of environmental protection could also play a role in the presidential elections in Brazil at the beginning of October.

Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro sees the area primarily as economic potential and wants to open up more land for agriculture and mining.

His rival candidate, ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on the other hand, has promised to strengthen environmental and climate protection in the future.

Lula is currently clearly ahead in the polls.