Campaign group Moving Animals say the beef industry is destroying our rainforests, and is urging universities to lead the way by banning beef.

The Amazon Rainforest is burning at a record rate, with environmental organisations and researchers claiming that the fires were likely started by people in an attempt to clear land for cattle ranching. 

Raising cattle to produce beef is the largest driver of deforestation in every Amazon country, accounting for 80 percent of the current deforestation. 

#BanBeef

Campaign group, Moving Animals, are now calling on universities across the UK to lead the way and #BanBeef in order to fight climate catastrophe and the deforestation of our planet.

The group has written to over 100 universities in the UK, to ask that they consider implementing a ban on the sale of beef products in a move to tackle the climate crisis.

Moving Animals’ co-founder Paul Healey, said: “Beef is one of the most destructive foods for our planet – and claims the lives of millions of cows every year.

“Just this month the UN declared that we must move away from consuming beef and instead adopt more plant-based diets if we are to fight climate catastrophe.” 

“It’s clear more than ever that institutions must act now. Universities continue to have a major role in implementing policies and influencing public thought, and so to demand change, we’re calling on them to lead the way and #BanBeef in order to fight this horrific deforestation of our planet.” 

The group has also launched a petition urging people to add their name to support the ban, and are asking the public, students, and alumni to contact their university reps to call for the ban.

Global supply

Moving Animals’ call for change comes after Goldsmiths University stopped selling beef on campus as part of its bid to tackle climate change.

Ane Alencar, the scientific director of Brazilian NGO IPAM (Institute of Environmental Research in Amazonia) claims that: “These are not wildfires, but rather fires set by people seeking to create cattle ranches, intentionally ignited during the dry season each year. They cut the trees, leave the wood to dry and later put fire to it, so that the ashes can fertilize the soil.” 

A significant portion of the global beef supply, including much of the UK’s corned beef supply, originates on land that was once Amazon rainforest and is now denuded.⁣

This Article

This article is based on a press release from Moving Animals. 

Image: Moving Animals.