The high price of beef encourages ranchers to burn the forest to create new rangelands. Thousands of species of plants and animals have already been destroyed forever, as well as straining the earth's ability to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. At current rates, the rainforests will be totally destroyed in 30-50 years. The constant pounding of the hoofs of cattle disturbs and eventually destroys the delicate root systems which keep the topsoil layer intact. Erosion by winds or storms removes the topsoil, leaving the sand or clay subsoil layer behind.
Beef production is a serious social justice issue.
Beef cattle and their grazing land take up nearly a quarter of the land mass of the earth, to supply beef to the U.S., Europe, and Japan. About one third of the world's grain harvest is used for feed for cattle instead of food for people. In the U.S., that figure is over 70 percent. It takes 16 pounds of grain to produce a single pound of beef. This, in a world where nearly a billion people lack enough food, is unjust.