American consumers save, on the average, a nickel on every hamburger imported from Central America, but the cost to the environnment is overwhelming and irreversible. Each imported hamburger requires the clearing of six square yards of jungle for pasture. The creation of a vast cattle complex in Central America has enriched the lives of a few wealthy landowners and their political allies, pauperized much of the rural peasantry, and spawned widespread social unrest and political upheaval. This destructive pattern of forest clearing, land concentration, and displacement of peasant populations is being repeated throughout Latin America. The destructive impact of cattle extends well beyond the rain forests to include vast stretches of the earth's land.
Cattle are now a major cause of desertification around the planet.
Today about 1.3 billion cattle are trampling and stripping much of the vegetative cover from the earth's remaining grasslands. Each animal eats its way through 900 pounds of vegetation a month. Without flora to anchor the soil, absorb the water, and recycle the nutrients, the land has become increasingly vulnerable to wind and water erosion. The soil compaction reduces the air space between particles, reducing the amount of water that can be absorbed. The soil is less able to hold water from the spring melting of snow and is more prone to erosion from flash floods.