By Rey Wells
First the beef. With company soon to arrive, we bought a whole filet mignon about two years ago. It was identified as Brazilian beef. I didn’t think too much of it at the time. Events since then have made me realize that we had contributed to a big problem for all of us.
It has been a very dry season in the Amazon region. Wildfires have been raging. That’s bad enough, but would be cattle ranchers have been setting fires to clear even more of the rainforest so that they can plant grass for beef production. This cannot continue. The Amazon region is too important. As President Macron of France stated, “The Amazon region is the lungs of the planet.”
As for us, if we can determine that any beef that we may purchase might be from that region, we will avoid doing so. it’s not just Brazil, although it covers by the far the largest area of the region. There is also Bolivia, Columbia, Guyuna, Peru, and a few others. There is plenty of beef produced in the United States and Canada. We will try to limit our beef consumption, which we should do anyway. A lot in our diet is not good for us. In addition, cattle are major producers of greenhouse gases.
It might be challenging to identify the source of beef that we are buying. I just visited a supermarket of a large grocery chain. Most beef packages in the case were identified as “Product of the United States.” One brand was identified as being from Austrailia. One was unidentified as to origin. I would not buy that one.
Now for the birds. Some of several species that nest here spend their winters in the Amazon region. Their ability to survive there is dependent on the natural ecosystem that can support them. One is the Eastern Kingbird, shown here.
They are flycatchers, but they also feed heavily on fruits down there in winter.
Another is the Red-eyed Vireo. I got this one in northern New York State during fall migration this year.
Here’s one more. The Yellow Warbler has fluffy breeding season plumage, making it tough to get a sharp looking photo of it. This is one of my better ones. I got it while on a “fishing” trip in June in northern Vermont.
If you share my concern about the origin of the beef that you consume, feel free to forward this post to friends and family. Some of them may forward it to others. If enough of us spread the word, it might make a positive difference for the Amazon rain forest and for all of us.