• Question: There are some trends in the Western world that have a huge impact in other countries. For example, Paraguay is loosing a lot of rainforest to create areas for soy crops needed to supply Wester countries. Aren't there alternatives to this?

    Asked by on 29 Jun 2020. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Joe Matthews

      Joe Matthews answered on 29 Jun 2020: last edited 6 Jul 2020 10:06 am

      There a lot of examples of this currently. It wasn’t too long ago that palm oil was in the headlines due to vast deforestation that was occurring to make way for palm oil plantations.
      I think a big factor in this is education and improving understanding of consumers. I think if we, as consumers, were more aware of how our products were created we would then be able to make choices about what we deem acceptable and then seek alternative options as you suggest.
      A delicate balance is needed for sure between the demand from an ever growing world population and the need to conserve our natural surroundings.
      A topic that will only become more and more important and I’ve seen some previous questions about sustainability so it’s seems everyone’s very passionate on the issue. Keep up the good work!

    • Photo: Colleen Sprigg

      Colleen Sprigg answered on 30 Jun 2020:

      This is a great question, and one that needs to be answered on a national and international scale as well as by individuals in choosing what we buy and where it comes from. Of course, environmentally speaking buying local and seasonal produce is important, but our lifestyles now rely on options that often can’t be produced to meet demand locally. There’s some really cool work going on at the moment to try to find alternatives for producing crop plants without environmental damage, like vertical farming in cities or developing offshore ocean farms, but this needs to be a collaborative effort that we can all play a part in – choosing responsible options at home, and getting our world leaders to help in the efforts too

    • Photo: Martin Lott

      Martin Lott answered on 2 Jul 2020:

      I’m not aware that western countries are any more to blame for having a negative impact on other countries than e.g. non-western countries. I believe that collaboration is needed on a global level to address global issues such as climate change, deforestation etc.

      Countries around the world, and in particular their governments, play a part in these global issues. I’m not aware of Paraguay specifically but since it’s not currently controlled by western nations it is my understanding that the local population is responsible for deforestation.

      Deforestation may or may not happen with the permission of the government of that country. The country may wish to increase their exports and bring in some cash, or there may be weak regulation/policing.

      As others have pointed out, there are similar issues all over the world and looking at similar issues it appears that education of people can help, as well as providing suitable alternatives. If soy crops are the issue then perhaps there is an alternative crop that can be farmed which is less damaging to the environment.

      Sadly in many countries there can be little choice for people, for example, for many years people have grown poppies in Afghanistan since they are a key ingredient for cocaine. Speaking with people on the ground, they often point out that they see little alternative.

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