Growing Soy In South America Summary

The video “The True Costs Of Growing Soy in Southern America”, and this week’s reading “A Land in Flames”, show the damage on local communities and land from growing soy. In South America, forests are destroyed and people are relocated in order to make farms to grow soy that is then sent to Europe to feed animals. The video shows an indigenous community in Paraguay being interviewed, and to them deforestation is nothing but an invasion that takes away their necessities. In just Paraguay, almost three thousand square feet are used to grow soy. Which leaves multiple communities without the recourses they need; instead of being surrounded by the animals and crops they relied on to survive, they are left surrounded by soybean farms. Huge companies own the plantations and farms, and
they reduce the availability of locals being able to grow their own crops in order to make more room for soybean production. The reading says, “As the forests become depleted, they must travel farther afield to scavenge for supplies…” (123), deforestation leaves communities with scarce supplies leading them to have to seek them elsewhere. This is shown in the video, with an indigenous community having to go into cities to try and find food. They are left with little to no crops, and often go days without eating, which leads them to have to venture out of their usually secluded area to try and find anything they can eat in order to not starve.
The reading then says, “Indigenous peoples who live in harmony with the forest have little hope of surviving sustained contact with incoming settlers…” (123), the indigenous people believe they will die once the settlers arrive.
In the video, a woman is shown saying that she believes that her race of Kaiowa indigenous people will end. Besides the Paraguayan communities’ have little food, their water supplies are damaged. The video shows that poison that come from the farms and plantations pollute the Saiya River, which is the main water source for an indigenous community. The soybeans are genetically modified with pesticides and agrochemicals being used to make them grow, which causes every river and large water source near the farms to be ruined. Although the water is contaminated and full of toxins that cause harm, the video shows people in the toxic water bathing and cleaning their clothing since they have no other water supply. The indigenous people are now left with no usable water and no fertile land for them to grow crops. The soybeans are grown to ship out to Europe and Asia to feed animals; meanwhile the indigenous people are left without any food due to the soybean
plantations.