What You Can Do Cattle ranching is a major cause of rainforest destruction in Central and South America.
Ranchers slash and burn rainforests to grow grass pasture for cattle.
Once the cattle have grazed sufficiently, they are slaughtered and exported to industrialized countries, including the United States, to be made into fast food hamburgers and frozen meat products. It has been estimated that for every quarter pound hamburger made from rainforest cattle, fifty-five square feet of rainforest was cleared an area equal to the size of a small kitchen. The Hamburger Connection - Fact sheet from Rainforest Action Network covers the impacts of cattle ranching and the fast food beef industry on rainforests. Also includes information on what you can do. The Law, Politics, and Economics of Amazonian Deforestation - Paper examines how government policy in Amazonian countries encourages cattle ranching ending in deforestation.