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05/01/2008: "Soy is a culture of death"

In neighboring Argentina, thick smoke even darkened the skies in the
capital Buenos Aires two weeks ago. In that case, the smoke was coming
from bush fires set by cattle ranchers in the nearby delta of the Paraná
River. The ranchers need more pastureland because expanding soybean
farms are swallowing up their traditional pastures. Here, too, the
soybeans are being produced for the Chinese market.

It has long been clear who the losers are in this soybean rush. In Santarém, hundreds of small farmers became unemployed when they sold their fields to soybean farmers. The money was quickly spent, and now most of them live in slums, because there are now few jobs in
agriculture.

"Soy is a culture of death," says union leader Ivete Bastos. But few are interested in opinions like hers, especially not 16,000 kilometers away in China. Brazil is one of China's major trading partners. Long-term contracts between the two countries are intended to secure raw materials for China -- and, more recently, food products.

[ Globalism is impoverishing people. ]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,550943,00.html