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Carrefour, Albert Heijn and Sainsbury’s are banning Brazilian meat because it is causing the deforestation of the Amazon forest. In the Netherlands, Lidl will even discontinue all South American beef after a critical environmental report.
Destructive Amazonian cows
About a fifth of all Brazilian beef imported by the European Union on an annual basis is linked to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and deforestation of the Cerrado savanna. This issue must be tackled urgently, as deforestation has reached its highest rate in fifteen years. Since deforestation and carbon emissions from livestock are major climate polluters, a hundred countries to end livestock farming on deforested natural areas by 2030 promised at the Glasgow Climate Summit.
However, it is difficult to know where precisely the meat comes from in practice. That is why a new report by environmental organisations Mighty Earth and Repórter Brasil has a big impact. The study shows that cows raised in deforested areas get sent to suppliers for fattening and eventually end up at large meat processors such as JBS, which in turn supply beef products to several large European supermarket chains.
Partnerships terminated
For instance, Amazonian cows may end up as beef jerky on the shelves of Carrefour supermarkets in Belgium or as corned beef at Sainsbury’s. Therefore, both Carrefour Belgium and Auchan are removing the jerky products in question from the shelves, while Sainsbury’s is removing its production from Brazil. Carrefour also promises to intensify surveillance in all countries, reports the Financial Times newspaper.
Albert Heijn will stop buying beef from Brazil altogether. Also in the Netherlands, Lidl will stop selling South American beef from next month. The German Metro group is currently investigating the allegations in the report because the filet mignon from one of the meat processors mentioned is available on their shelves. The meat processors themselves say they are developing new tools, such as blockchain platforms and digital testing tools, to identify the origin of the meat better.
