Rainforests and Happy Meals

Tonight JJ tells me we can't eat hamburgers from fast food restaurants anymore (we do infrequently).  I ask him why?  Wondering where this is going.  He starts to tell me about the rainforests and bamboo and the cows in Central America.  I am lost.  After all, I get my news from Twitter.  Corey lets him know we will remind him of his boycotting of happy meals, next time he wants one.

I took this as a learning opportunity for me.  Here is what I googled (I love google).

The United States imports roughly 200 million pounds of beef from Central America every year. Aside from the fuel used in transport, grazing land is needed for all of these animals. Where does all that land come from in a densely forested region? The answer: from clear-cutting forests and rainforest A Smithsonian study estimates that the necessity for more grazing land means that every minute of every day, a land area equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed in the Amazon basin(1).

For each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately55 square feet of forest have been destroyed. And its not just the rainforest. In the United States, more than 260 million acres of forest have been clear-cut for animal agriculture (2). With increased per capita meat consumption, and an ever growing population, we can only expect to see more deforestation in the future.

We all need to do a better job with our food purchasing, recycling, reusing for one very simple reason.  Our children.  Thank you Mrs. Siporin, 3rd grade teacher Gilham Elementary.  You Rock!