Soy was initially introduced to Brazil as part of a US military aid package. Today, its industrial cultivation results in a number of negative consequences, including deforestation and the expulsion of small-scale farmers from their land. George Washington Carver, a 19th century African-American scientist, made inroads into industrial uses for agricultural crops, including research on the production of biodiesel from soybeans. The legume arrived in Germany in the 1930s and Hitler used it as a substitute for petroleum. In Brazil, it was introduced during the military dictatorship (1964-1985) as part of a military aid package from the United States. Today, Brazil is the second-largest producer of soy on a global scale, after the United States. This production is concentrated in the hands of a half-dozen corporations, including Monsanto, ADM, Cargill, Bunge and Louis Dreyfus. Along the BR-163 highway a lush, green landscape unfolds. It is, however, entirely homogenous; there is no diversity beyond soy plants. On the highway, cargo trucks clump together, demonstrating the productive potential of this region. Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso, with just 480 inhabitants, is the epicenter of soy production in this country. Over 5 billion hectares of soy have been planted in Brazil, and this image of abundant production is sold to potential investors in the soy market. Local politicians are often big soy producers. One case is that of Blairo Borges Maggi, governor of Mato Grosso in 2005, businessman and Brazilian politician. At that time he was known as the King of Soy, and in 2005, Greenpeace gave him the Golden Chainsaw award, due to the monstrous deforestation that his companies were responsible for, to make way for soy production in the Amazon.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 03:52:28 +0000
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