“Behind the Bean” (pdf) - Cornucopia Institute

more grazing land.
While it is unlikely that certified organic soybeans are grown directly on recently cleared rain forest land, 49 conventional
soybeans used in soy foods such as nutrition bars and vegetarian burgers may well have been grown on former rain forest
land. Solae, which is a major supplier of conventional soy protein ingredients for nutrition bars and vegetarian bars, is an
alliance between Du Pont and Bunge Limited. 50 Bunge, an agribusiness corporation based in New York but formerly based
in Brazil, 51 owns Bunge Brasil. In 2005, Bunge bought soybeans from 30,000 growers in Brazil. 52
According to the Rainforest Action Network, “Bunge is the largest exporter of soy from Brazil, where the crop has become
the greatest driver of deforestation in the Amazon and the Cerrado.” The Rainforest Action Network also reports that
Bunge continues to buy soy from plantations that have been blacklisted by the Brazilian government for using slave labor.
Conventional soybeans used
in soy foods such as nutrition
bars and vegetarian burgers
may well have been grown on
former rain forest land.
Nonprofit groups like Greenpeace and the Rainforest Action Network
are working hard toward the goal of ensuring that no soybeans are planted
on former rain forest land. In 2006, Greenpeace pressured major users
of Brazilian soybeans to stop buying them, such as McDonald’s in Europe,
which fed the soybeans to chickens destined for McNuggets. And
in July 2006, companies that are heavily involved in soybean production
agreed to a two-year moratorium, stopping the trade of soybeans grown
on newly deforested land. The moratorium was extended one more year
and is now in effect until July 23, 2009. 53
Some believe that the moratorium is working; others, including Friends of the Earth and Conservation International, contest
this assertion. They note that Brazil’s environment ministry recently said that as much as 7,000 square kilometers of
Brazil’s rain forest was cleared from August through December, reversing a three-year decline in the pace of deforestation. 54
While it may not always be soy, “there’s a clear link between agriculture and deforestation, with livestock and then grain
farmers such as corn playing a significant role in deforestation,” said Paulo Gustavo do Prado Pereira, environmental policies
director at Conservation International. 55
Others, including Greenpeace, believe that the moratorium is working because these acres were not cleared specifically for
soybean production. The first field survey since the moratorium, in March 2008, found no soybeans were grown in any of
the 193 deforested areas within the three states of Mato Grosso (the number one soy-producing state), Para, and Rondonia.
Greenpeace noted that “the moratorium is doing its job and halting soya related forest destruction, despite the pressure
from rising soya prices.” However, Greenpeace’s Amazon campaign director, Paulo Adario, said he is still concerned because
much of the deforestation has occurred in areas next to existing soybean plantations, suggesting that the grain fields could
move into those areas to meet growing international demand. 56
Today, Bunge continues to buy Brazilian soybeans, and there does not appear to be any guarantee that these Brazilian soybeans
do not end up in “natural” nutrition bars, vegetarian burgers, and other soy foods. Since Solae, a major supplier of soy
protein isolate to “natural” food companies, is a subsidiary of Bunge, it is possible that “natural” products and “green” foods
containing soy protein are made with Brazilian soybeans.
3.
22 Behind the bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry.