Eduardo Leal

Documentary Photographer
   
Killer Bean
Location: Macau S.A.R., China
Nationality: Portuguese
Biography: Eduardo Leal is a Portuguese documentary photographer usually based in Macau, China. Previously he worked for several years in South America. He graduated in Journalism at Escola Superior de Jornalismo (ESJ) and has a Masters in Photojournalism... MORE
Public Story
Killer Bean
Copyright Eduardo Leal 2024
Updated Nov 2016
Location Argentina
Topics Editorial, Environment, Environmental, Food, Globalization, Photography

The soybean will in a few years become one of the most important food commodities on earth. No other fruit is produced with comparable technological effort, and nowhere is the economic, political, environmental and social consequences of the boom are as dramatic as in Argentina.

A country known for its meat is now becoming a monotonous landscape of green fields turning Argentina into the third biggest producer of this bean after the US and Brazil. 

22 million hectares of land were planted this year (2015) in Argentina with soy; meanwhile, large areas with forestland are being converted into fields to produce more of it, destroying the habitats for local species and indigenous people.

At the same time, 26,000,000 litres of pesticides are sprayed in Argentina and as a result contamination of groundwater, unseen floods and the rise of cancer cases in the core areas of soybean cultivation reaching three times high the national average. 

It all seems a high price to pay for, especially when the country almost doesn't consume the grain. 

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