The benefits of soybeans have often been touted as a healthy food source and also a way to solve the world’s hunger crisis. But one American doctor says the crop is leaving behind “a trail of ecological devastation beyond belief”.
Dr. Joseph Mercola is a controversial doctor, widely known for his books ‘The No-Grain Diet’ and ‘The Great Bird Flu Hoax’. And the 58-year-old says the proposed benefits behind soybeans are very misleading.
Mercola says that although the Amazon is under threat, few know that one of the principal perpetrators is soy:
“Agricultural multinational bullies are rushing into Brazil to flatten forests into massive soy farms, expelling native peoples from their land by any means possible, legal or otherwise.
Peaceful community protests are met with violent beatings from large soy producers and their hired thugs, and individuals speaking out the loudest have been assassinated. The Brazilian government is sadly absent, uninvolved, and ineffective on this issue.”
Mercola goes on to argue that not only is the “soy takeover” harming the Brazilian people and their native culture, but it’s also having a devastating ecological impact that could potentially affect the rest of the world:
“Between 2007 and 2008, almost three million acres of Brazilian rainforest were lost to illegal logging, soy plantations, and cattle ranching. Soy traders encourage farmers to cut down forest vegetation and plant massive soy monocultures. The traders then take the soy and ship it to Europe where it’s fed to animals like chickens and pigs. The animals are then turned into fast food products.
Before soy can be planted, soy farmers have to remove the most valuable timber from areas they illegally occupy.
The illegal timber trade supports the cheap sale of once-valuable tree timber. Then deforested lands are set on fire to clear any remaining debris. So not only is the rainforest destroyed, but tons of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere by these burnings. Profits from this illegal logging are then used to seed soy plantations and line the pockets of a few select multinationals.”
Mercola argues that on top of this “cycle of destruction”, most soy crops are genetically engineered – introducing a new set of dangers to you and the food chain.
The doctor has been on a campaign urging readers to support ‘California Ballot Initiative Prop 37’. The legislation would require labeling of all genetically engineered foods and food ingredients, and ban the industry practice of labeling and marketing such foods as “natural.”
