September 5th is Amazon Rainforest day. "In South America, the numbers emphasize beef's predominance starkly: beef was responsible for 71% of deforestation in South America versus just over 17% for all other agricultural drivers combined- resulting in up to 91% of total Amazon destruction for animal agriculture. Of the four major deforestation drivers (animal agriculture, soy, palm oil, and wood products), beef has by far the largest impact. Converting forest to pasture for beef cattle, largely in Latin America, is responsible for destroying 2.71 million hectares of tropical forest each year-an area about the size of the state of Massachusetts- in just four countries. This is more than half of tropical deforestation in South America, and more than 5X as much as any other commodity in the region. Growing global demand for meat and dairy products has contributed to the doubling of soybean production in the last 20 years. Soy is primarily used to feed pork, poultry, and dairy cows." Sour...