While much of the world takes to Twitter and Facebook to express their abject horror over the fires burning vast swaths of the largest rainforest on Earth—the Amazon—PETA is calling them out for being part of the problem that’s fueling the fires: the Philippines’ demand for meat. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon and elsewhere, and more than 90 percent of the land of the Amazon rainforest that’s been cleared since 1970 is used for meat production, either for grazing or for growing food for cattle. The Philippines is one of the top 10 importers of Brazilian beef.
“Whether it’s beef tapas or burgers, if your mouth is full of meat, you’re the reason the Amazon is going down the tubes—whereas going vegan shows that you actually do care,” says PETA senior vice president of International Campaigns Jason Baker.
PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat.” PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com.