Brazil is going Veggie!

An article in the NYTimes, December 26, 2020 reported that Brazil is experiencing a dramatic increase in vegetarianism—now up to 30 million people, giving rise to a “booming plant-based industry that is seeking to turn meatpacking plants obsolete.”

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, which is one of the main causes of the alarming increase in deforestation of the Brazilian rain forest, often called the “lungs of the planet.” The attention that has been brought to this issue, as well as the voices of animal rights groups, have helped to change the appetites of Brazilians, but the driving factor is a desire for better health. Brazilians have become fatter and sicker after adopting “western” diets and lifestyles.

As a result, plant-based food companies are developing new plant-based replicas of burger patties, chicken breast alternatives and imitation salmon, to name a few. Some of them are exporting their imitation meatballs, ground beef and sausage to Europe and Latin America and believe Brazil has the potential to become a major plant-bases food exporter.

The world’s largest meat-processing company, Brazil-based JBS, has come under fire for its role in illegal deforestation in the Amazon. It has taken note of the competition, and is now expanding their sector of plant-based products that have the same texture and taste as meat.

Spotlight On—Blue-crowned Motmot

With a long, thin tail that ends with two round feathers shaped like little tennis rackets, this colorful bird is about sixteen inches in total length. They swing these tail feathers back and forth, like a pendulum, earning them the nickname “clock birds.”

It has green, olive and electric blue feathers that give its more common name, although its flights are short and quick, so they are seldom seen, flying through the dense rainforests. It prefers to sleep there at night, but when they it’s time to build a nest, that is dug in the shape of a several-foot-long tunnel. Excavation is coordinated with the rainy season, making the digging easier; so, by the time breeding begins, the hole doesn’t attract the interest of predators. 

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 I have been pleasantly surprised at our current president’s ability to manage the myriad of issues that have landed on his plate in the short time since he’s been in office. As much as I liked some of the other candidates, I don’t think they would have had the capacity, experience or judgment to cope. I also think it’s depressing how difficult the previous administration made it for him to get things moving in the beginning, and how far off the rails the opposing party has gone. But that’s a whole other topic.
      I’m not fooling myself as to how things stand. January 6th should be a wake-up call to everyone in this country, that there is, and always has been, a group of people who, as far back as the inception of the country, believe that only white people are truly human and deserve any kind of rights. They’ve been stewing in resentment since the end of the Civil War, periodically trying to put them n*****s back in their place. One can assume they’d be happy to see slavery re-established. 
        I’m not sure what could ever be done to change the minds of people like that, or stop the influence they have on their children that makes this frightful state of mind continue, generation after generation. It seems that religion or common sense have no effect.
         But. . . back to the original topic—I guess we’ll see if this guy is able to bring the country together enough to save us from ourselves. He certainly seems to believe it’s possible. I guess I’m too much of a glass half-empty kind of person, because I’m afraid this undercurrent of anti-government and racism has been allowed to break out of the civil constraints by which it had felt bound for so long.
          On the other hand, we’ve been here before. I do think that it is important to deal with the voting rights issue, and soon. Personally, I believe that something will transpire, in pretty short order, but do hope that he doesn’t wait too long.