Pigs, Soybeans, and the Tears of the Amazon

When a pork processing plant called Smithfield closed in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic, news reports noted that pork was hard to find in supermarkets, prices were rising, and the problem stemmed from market monopolies, among other factors. Out of curiosity, I decided to do some research. These days, the world has become so convenient that curious people like me can look things up immediately.

In any case, the surprising fact is that this pork issue is linked to “China,” and that the wildfires in the Amazon rainforest are ultimately linked to “China” as well. Whether you trace CO2—the primary culprit behind the destruction of all environmental ecosystems—or follow the trail of poachers, “China” invariably emerges as the culprit, and this issue is no exception.

China consumes half of the world’s pork production. While it imports pork to make up for shortages, the Chinese company WH has expanded into a global corporation by acquiring businesses in the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands, turning local farmers into contractors. For example, Smithfield in the U.S. was acquired by China’s WH in the 1990s, and its plants are located across several states. Smithfield uses a business model called “vertical integration,” which means the company operates and centrally controls the entire process—from feed production for pig farming to the sale and transportation of meat: Feed Mill => Nursery => Feeding Lines => Slaughterhouse => Processing => Retailers. Smithfield currently accounts for 30% of the U.S. pork production and processed meat market. That is why the news is making a big fuss about food monopolies in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Currently, 90% of U.S. pig farms have disappeared, and most have become contractors supplying corporate companies. The problem is that China will continue to become an even larger consumer of meat.

While populous nations like India, Pakistan, and Nigeria have GDPs that do not yet allow for significant meat consumption, China’s meat consumption will continue to rise. Currently, per capita meat consumption in China is half that of the United States. However, China’s total meat consumption is twice that of the United States. So, as China’s consumption capacity continues to grow and eventually matches U.S. per capita meat consumption, the problem is that there won’t be enough land for livestock farming, nor will there be enough land to grow the soybeans needed to feed those animals. This is where the Amazon issue becomes particularly serious.

Globally, the United States and Brazil account for 80% of soybean production. Everyone knows that U.S. soybeans are exported to China for livestock feed. Currently, all small farms in Brazil are being converted into soybean plantations. The soybeans produced are sold on the global market, with the vast majority going to feed Chinese livestock. Soybean plantations have become a massive agribusiness sector dominated by five major corporations. The problem is that most of the areas in Brazil being converted into large-scale soybean plantations are in the Amazon region. Since there is a shortage of land, they are moving into the Amazon. They burn down the rainforest, turning forested areas into deforested ones, and 70% of that land is planted with soybeans. The remaining 30% is used for Brazil’s livestock industry—specifically, raising cattle.

Ultimately, the primary cause of the Amazon rainforest’s deforestation is soybean plantations; the reason for planting those soybeans is to export them to China as livestock feed, and that livestock is raised for Chinese dining tables. I searched to learn about Smithfield’s monopoly, but it all comes back to the tears of the Amazon, with China as the main culprit. And that’s not the only problem. Enormous amounts of CO₂ are emitted throughout the process: importing the pesticides needed for soybean cultivation from distant China, growing and processing the soybeans, transporting them back to China, and then moving them to livestock feedlots there. But is China the only culprit here? After all, Brazil is actively participating in this, and the profits generated are pocketed by just five Brazilian conglomerates.

If the Chinese have the economic means to eat as much as Americans do, I suppose there’s nothing to say against it, but is the population size I mentioned in my previous post ultimately the problem after all…? Still, it is a fact that China’s wealth and the Earth’s ecosystem are inversely proportional.

06/24/2020 by Dr. Lan Joo