German appetite for beef eats into Brazilian rainforest
21.10.19 FOOD AND DRUGS FOOD AND FARMING
Germany imported €216m worth of Brazilian beef over five years from meat companies linked to major deforestation in the Amazon and other vital areas.
The newspaper Welt Am Sonntag used data collated by the Bureau to calculate that German restaurants and retail chains used 40,000 tonnes of beef imported from the Brazilian giants JBS, Marfrig and Minerva. Some of Germany’s biggest brands were found to be among the direct buyers, including the Tönnies meat company and the Block House steak restaurant chain.
Amazon deforestation was found to have almost quadrupled in the year to July, which has been widely blamed on the pro-agribusiness and climate-sceptic rhetoric of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Germany’s imports accounted for about 7% of the half a million tonnes of Brazilian beef imported by the EU from JBS, Marfrig and Minerva over five years, which was worth at least €2.7bn.
More:
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2019-10-21/german-appetite-for-beef-linked-to-destruction-of-protected-brazilian-habitat
