Ranching has become the major cause of deforestation in Central and South America. Since cattle ranching is very inexpensive in Costa Rica--about 50 percent less costly than in the United States, for example--many foreign companies have purchased large portions of land there. They keep their cattle in Costa Rica and then export the beef to other countries, mainly to the US. In order to establish grasslands for grazing, they clear forests away completely. These artificially manufactured pastures remain productive for six to eight years, after which time they are abandoned. The forest is lost forever.
In Brazil, where 81 percent of the farmable land is held by just 4.5 percent of the landowners, a large number of poor, rural farmers move into rainforest areas just to survive. Like farmers in Costa Rica, many of these farmers raise beef that is sold mainly to fast food hamburger chains. These fast food chains can keep their prices low because they buy beef cheaply from Latin American cattle ranchers. But the hidden costs of the beef include the environmental costs: deforestation and rising global temperatures.
Some experts believe that social practices which focus on financial profit at the expense of environmental balance raise important questions about the values and belief systems that support them. For example, it has been suggested that belief in man’s superiority to animals promotes an attitude that may condone the domination of the environment in the service of human comfort and progress.