Animals In Brazil Economic Legal and

Ethical Perspectives Carlos Naconecy

Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/animals-in-brazil-economic-legal-and-ethical-perspect
ives-carlos-naconecy/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Animals and Human Society in Asia: Historical, Cultural

and Ethical Perspectives Rotem Kowner

https://textbookfull.com/product/animals-and-human-society-in-
asia-historical-cultural-and-ethical-perspectives-rotem-kowner/

Food Exports from Brazil to China A Legal and Economic

Analysis Dan Wei

https://textbookfull.com/product/food-exports-from-brazil-to-
china-a-legal-and-economic-analysis-dan-wei/

Public and Private Enforcement of Competition Law in

Europe Legal and Economic Perspectives 1st Edition Kai
Hüschelrath

https://textbookfull.com/product/public-and-private-enforcement-
of-competition-law-in-europe-legal-and-economic-perspectives-1st-
edition-kai-huschelrath/

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business Fort

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-legal-and-ethical-
environment-of-business-fort/
The European Central Bank as a Sustainability Role
Model: Philosophical, Ethical and Economic Perspectives
Harald Bolsinger

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-european-central-bank-as-a-
sustainability-role-model-philosophical-ethical-and-economic-
perspectives-harald-bolsinger/

Ethical Legal and Professional Issues in Counseling 5th

Edition Theodore P. Remley Jr

https://textbookfull.com/product/ethical-legal-and-professional-
issues-in-counseling-5th-edition-theodore-p-remley-jr/

Epigenetics Ethical Legal and Social Aspects 1st

Edition Reinhard Heil

https://textbookfull.com/product/epigenetics-ethical-legal-and-
social-aspects-1st-edition-reinhard-heil/

Understanding Workplace Bullying: An Ethical and Legal

Perspective Devi Akella

https://textbookfull.com/product/understanding-workplace-
bullying-an-ethical-and-legal-perspective-devi-akella/

A Second Chance for Europe Economic Political and Legal

Perspectives of the European Union 1st Edition Jo
Ritzen (Eds.)

https://textbookfull.com/product/a-second-chance-for-europe-
economic-political-and-legal-perspectives-of-the-european-
union-1st-edition-jo-ritzen-eds/
THE PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
ANIMAL ETHICS SERIES

Animals In Brazil
Economic, Legal and
Ethical Perspectives
Edited by
Carlos Naconecy
The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series

Series Editors
Andrew Linzey
Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics
Oxford, UK

Priscilla N. Cohn
Pennsylvania State University
Villanova, PA, USA

Associate Editor
Clair Linzey
Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics
Oxford, UK
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the ethics of our
treatment of animals. Philosophers have led the way, and now a range
of other scholars have followed from historians to social scientists. From
being a marginal issue, animals have become an emerging issue in ethics
and in multidisciplinary inquiry. This series will explore the challenges
that Animal Ethics poses, both conceptually and practically, to tradi-
tional understandings of human-animal relations. Specifically, the Series
will:

• provide a range of key introductory and advanced texts that map out
ethical positions on animals
• publish pioneering work written by new, as well as accomplished,
scholars;
• produce texts from a variety of disciplines that are multidisciplinary
in character or have multidisciplinary relevance.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14421
 Carlos Naconecy
Editor

Animals In Brazil
Economic, Legal and Ethical
Perspectives
Editor
Carlos Naconecy
Porto Alegre, Brazil

The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series

ISBN 978-3-030-23376-1 ISBN 978-3-030-23377-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23377-8

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover illustration: Dihandra Pinheiro/Alamy Stock Photo

This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Series Editors’ Preface

This is a new book series for a new field of inquiry: Animal Ethics.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the ethics of our
treatment of animals. Philosophers have led the way, and now a range
of other scholars have followed from historians to social scientists. From
being a marginal issue, animals have become an emerging issue in ethics
and in multidisciplinary inquiry.
In addition, a rethink of the status of animals has been fuelled by a
range of scientific investigations which have revealed the complexity of
animal sentiency, cognition, and awareness. The ethical implications of
this new knowledge have yet to be properly evaluated, but it is becom-
ing clear that the old view that animals are mere things, tools, machines,
or commodities cannot be sustained ethically.
But it is not only philosophy and science that are putting animals
on the agenda. Increasingly, in Europe and the United States, animals
are becoming a political issue as political parties vie for the “green” and
“animal” vote. In turn, political scientists are beginning to look again at
the history of political thought in relation to animals, and historians are
beginning to revisit the political history of animal protection.

v
vi       Series Editors’ Preface

As animals grow as an issue of importance, so there have been more

collaborative academic ventures leading to conference volumes, special
journal issues, indeed new academic animal journals as well. Moreover,
we have witnessed the growth of academic courses, as well as univer-
sity posts, in Animal Ethics, Animal Welfare, Animal Rights, Animal
Law, Animals and Philosophy, Human-Animal Studies, Critical Animal
Studies, Animals and Society, Animals in Literature, Animals and
Religion—tangible signs that a new academic discipline is emerging.
“Animal Ethics” is the new term for the academic exploration of the
moral status of the non-human—an exploration that explicitly involves
a focus on what we owe animals morally, and which also helps us to
understand the influences—social, legal, cultural, religious, and politi-
cal—that legitimate animal abuse. This series explores the challenges
that Animal Ethics poses, both conceptually and practically, to tradi-
tional understandings of human–animal relations.
The series is needed for three reasons: (i) to provide the texts that
will service the new university courses on animals; (ii) to support the
increasing number of students studying and academics researching in
animal-related fields; and (iii) because there is currently no book series
that is a focus for multidisciplinary research in the field.
Specifically, the series will:

• provide a range of key introductory and advanced texts that map out
ethical positions on animals;
• publish pioneering work written by new, as well as accomplished,
scholars, and
• produce texts from a variety of disciplines that are multidisciplinary
in character or have multidisciplinary relevance.

The new Palgrave Macmillan Series on Animal Ethics is the result

of a unique partnership between Palgrave Macmillan and the Ferrater
Mora Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. The series is an integral part
of the mission of the Centre to put animals on the intellectual agenda
by facilitating academic research and publication. The series is also a
natural complement to one of the Centre’s other major projects, the
Journal of Animal Ethics. The Centre is an independent “think tank” for
 Series Editors’ Preface      vii

the advancement of progressive thought about animals, and is the first

Centre of its kind in the world. It aims to demonstrate rigorous intellec-
tual enquiry and the highest standards of scholarship. It strives to be a
world-class centre of academic excellence in its field.
We invite academics to visit the Centre’s website www.oxfordanimale-
thics.com and to contact us with new book proposals for the series.

Oxford, UK Andrew Linzey

Villanova, PA, USA Priscilla N. Cohn
 Acknowledgements

The publisher thanks Prof. Tagore Trajano for his comments on parts of
the manuscript.

ix
 Contents

1 Introduction 1
Carlos Naconecy

2 Food Animals in Brazil: Five Decades of Transformation 7

Cynthia Schuck Paim and Marly Winckler

3 The Legal Protection of Animals in Brazil: An Overview 35

Daniel Braga Lourenço and Carlos Frederico Ramos de Jesus

4 Cases and Debates in the Brazilian Animal Rights’ Arena 79

Bruno Garrote

5 Factors That Influence the Brazilian Ethos Regarding

Animals 105
Carlos Naconecy

Index 119

xi
 Notes on Contributors

Carlos Frederico Ramos de Jesus has a Ph.D. in Law at University

of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, where he coordinates USP Law School
working group on animal rights. He is Professor of Theory of Law and
Private Law at University São Judas Tadeu, Brazil, as well as Associate
Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.
Bruno Garrote has a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Theory of Law at
University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. He is the creator and leader of
the course “Body and legal consciousness: autonomy and recognition of
the other from a non-dual perspective”, taught at USP.
Daniel Braga Lourenço has a Ph.D. in Law from Universidade
Estácio de Sá, Brazil. He is Professor of Law at the Federal University
of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, and Associate Professor of Law at the
Postgraduate Program of Guanambi University, Brazil. Director of the
Environmental Ethics Centre at UFRJ, he is also a Fellow of the Oxford
Centre for Animal Ethics.
Carlos Naconecy, Ph.D., is a Brazilian philosopher specializing in
animal ethics and life ethics. He is an independent scholar and author,
as well as a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. He was a
xiii
xiv       Notes on Contributors

Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge, UK, throughout 2006.

Naconecy has presented academic papers in South America, Europe,
the Middle East and Asia. In addition to his scholarship, he has made
numerous appearances in popular media on the topic of animal ethics
and moral vegetarianism in Brazil.
Cynthia Schuck Paim has a Ph.D. in animal cognition from Oxford
University, UK. She has extensive experience in data analysis and health
research, having authored over 50 scientific publications, book chapters,
and education materials. She has also done extensive consulting work
on the impacts of animal agriculture and volunteers as the Scientific
Coordinator of the Brazilian Vegetarian Society.
Marly Winckler is a sociologist and translator. She was the Latin
American and Caribbean Coordinator of the International Vegetarian
Union (IVU) from 2000 to 2013, then serving as IVU’s Chair from
2012 to 2014. Founder and President of the Brazilian Vegetarian
Society from 2003 to 2015, she now serves as the Honorary President.
She currently serves as IVU’s Chair.
 List of Figures

Chapter 2
Fig. 1 Evolution of the annual availability of chicken,
beef, and pork (in kilograms) per person in Brazil
(Sources Associação Brasileira de Exportadores
de Carne [ABIEC], Associação Brasileira de Criadores
de Suínos [ABCS], Associação Brasileira de Proteína
Animal [ABPA]) 9
Fig. 2 Evolution of the number of land animals slaughtered
in Brazil per year (Source FAOSTAT—livestock primary) 11
Fig. 3 Terrestrial biomes—distribution map for Brazil
(Source NASA [public domain file]) 18
Fig. 4 Top 10 dietary risk factors associated with health loss
(Years lived with Disability [YLD]) due to cardiovascular
disease, diabetes mellitus and neoplasms in Brazil across
all year in 2016 (Source Global Burden of Disease Study,
Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation [IHME]) 23

xv
 1
Introduction
Carlos Naconecy

Abstract This book presents a collection of essays on some of the main

aspects of human–animal interaction in Brazil, aiming to shed light on
the legal, economic, socio-environmental, and ethical dimensions of it.
The first essay addresses the profound transformations in the consump-
tion and production of animal-sourced foods that took place over the
last five decades in the country. The authors examine the consequences
of this phenomenon for the lives of animals, the health of the popula-
tion, and the environment. The next essay offers an analysis of the ani-
mal welfare and animal protection legislation in Brazil. The following
chapter presents a number of notable cases involving animal advocacy
and activism in recent years. The last section deals with certain histor-
ical, sociocultural, and economic aspects that influence the Brazilian
ethos regarding the morality of the treatment of animals.

Keywords Brazil · Environment · Livestock · Animal ethics · Brazilian

legislation

C. Naconecy (*)
Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, Oxford, UK
© The Author(s) 2019 1
C. Naconecy (ed.), Animals In Brazil, The Palgrave Macmillan
Animal Ethics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23377-8_1
2    
C. Naconecy

The book that you are now reading presents a collection of essays on
some of the main aspects of human–animal interaction in Brazil. The
project that culminated in this work began in September 2014, when
Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, asked
if I would be interested in taking further the idea of an anthology on
the situation of animals in Brazil. Later, Clair Linzey, while visiting
Brazil on account of her doctoral research, encouraged me to make this
project a reality.
In terms of the circumstances of animals, Brazil’s crucial role in the
international scenario is not hard to explain. We know that around 99%
of all animals with which humans interact are animals destined to be
eaten. And Brazil has a strong vocation for livestock production. The
country occupies a privileged position in the global meat supply chain.
The largest meat processing company in the world, JBS, is Brazilian.
Brazil usually ranks among the top three positions as global exporter
and producer of beef and chicken; there are almost as many cattle as
there are people in the country. Brazil’s ecological responsibility on this
planet is also immense: it is home to the world’s largest rainforest, the
Amazon—and over 80% of the deforestation of this area, which hosts
the greatest biodiversity on earth, is due to cattle breeding.
For these reasons, among others, Brazil’s worldwide importance for
animal life seems unquestionable. Anyone who has even the slightest
interest in the circumstances of animals at the international level must
take into account what this country has—and, most importantly, what
it has not—done about this. This book aims to shed light on the legal,
economic, socio-environmental, and ethical dimensions of this problem.
As for the ethical dimension of the “animal issue”, the key question
is: are we, human beings, justified in using and abusing animals as we
have historically been doing? Or is there more to be taken into account,
to the extent of demanding a change in this behaviour on the basis of
morality? Such reflection is still very recent compared to the other fields
of human thought. Although there have been isolated manifestations
throughout history, beginning in ancient times, it was only in the 1970s
that moral reasoning about the way we treat animals received a new and
vigorous impetus. This movement, led by Anglo-Saxon philosophers,
has since produced a plethora of literary works in different disciplines.
 1 Introduction    
3

About thirty years elapsed until this movement reached the Brazilian
community and intellectuals. More markedly in the last decade, books
in the national language have begun to be published, specialized jour-
nals released in the academic field, and graduate programs integrated
into university curricula.1
As in other countries, Brazilian society also believes that the life and
welfare of animals is morally important, at least to some extent. But,
as in other countries, the topic of debate is what we can deduct from
this moral importance or status in terms of our own obligations. In
other words, what kind of moral duties does animal welfare/animal life
impose upon us. Furthermore, since the country has the second largest
population of cats and dogs in the world, part of the Brazilian society
also wonders about the difference in moral treatment between pets and
animals used as food or for experimentation.
It is correct to say that ethical sensitivity toward the treatment of ani-
mals in Brazil has taken the form of a growing spiral. The increase in
public and academic interest in the ways we treat animals has grown
consistently in recent years in this country. There have never been so
many academic conferences and university courses dedicated to animal
topics as there are now in Brazil. Public debate is also intensifying. It
is clear that we are facing a global trend that has already reached our
country. It is clear that this national movement is part of a worldwide
critical mass of moral reflection that is, therefore, more comprehensive.
The issue, however, is not restricted only to ethics and to respect for
animals. There are other dimensions to be considered. When we raise
animals for food, for example, we are not only creating problems for
the animals themselves. This activity also entails serious social and envi-
ronmental problems, be they on a micro or macro scale. The impacts of
the Brazilian meat industry on climate, deforestation, loss of biodiver-
sity, excessive water use, land degradation, concentration of land own-
ership, invasion of indigenous lands, contaminant waste management,
slave labor, and food security are already well known and documented.
As a matter of fact, livestock farming is the largest emitter of green-
house gases in Brazil. Extensive livestock production, in which the ani-
mals are not confined as they are in industrial farming, predominates in
the country: less than 2% of the total herd is confined. Although this
4    
C. Naconecy

method may be more beneficial in terms of animal welfare, it is pri-

marily accountable for deforestation in the country, the environmental
consequences of which are extremely disturbing—and potentially
disastrous.
The bad news is that such highly detrimental impacts have increased
rather than diminished. In Brazil, land is being cleared of more trees
to produce pasture, meat exports are on the rise, and consumption is
increasing. Moreover, the political power of agribusiness in the country
is overwhelming. It lobbies permanently to approve bills that ease barri-
ers to deforestation, encourages meat production, and obtains govern-
ment subsidies for livestock production. It should be taken into account
that the meat industry is viewed as strategic for the national economy:
the Brazilian trade balance is largely dependent on meat exports (despite
the meat supply chain, in its current form, being inefficient in terms of
what is consumed and produced in animal husbandry).
Now, about this book: it is divided into three thematic sections
(Animals for Food, Animal Law and Advocacy, and Animal Ethics),
totalling four essays. These thematic categories are not intended to
be exhaustive, since much has been left out of the rich and com-
plex universe of animal life in Brazil. The collaborators of this volume
come from three different academic backgrounds (Law, Sciences and
Philosophy), and thus present different perspectives on the animal issue
as it appears in the country today.
In “Food Animals in Brazil: Five Decades of Transformation”, Cynthia
Schuck Paim and Marly Winckler address the profound transforma-
tions in livestock production and consumption that have taken place
over the last five decades in this country, along with the impacts on the
lives of animals, the health of the population, and the rich, but fragile,
national environment. Brazil has gone from being a net food importer
to one of the world’s largest food producers in the world, particularly of
animal-sourced foods: as of 2017, Brazil has become the second largest
exporter of meat, the first exporter of beef, and the second largest pro-
ducer of soybeans, used mostly as animal feed. Schuck and Winckler
hold that abundance of land, natural resources, and governmental incen-
tives, combined with a pronounced appetite for meat, dairy, and eggs
nationally and abroad created in Brazil the perfect conditions for the
 1 Introduction    
5

rapid expansion of the livestock industry. This phenomenon has put

enormous pressure on nearly every ecosystem in Brazil: from the Atlantic
rainforest and the world’s largest tropical wetland area (Pantanal), to the
vast tropical savanna (Cerrado) and the Amazon—the largest rainforest
on the planet, with the greatest biodiversity on the globe. The five-fold
increase in the production of animals used as food witnessed over the
last five decades also happened along with a radical transformation in
the form and structure of the animal production systems. The changes in
the pig, poultry, and fish farming sectors were particularly dramatic, with
subsistence activities being replaced by highly industrialized production
processes involving the intensive production of animals bred for incredi-
bly fast growth rates in landless factory-style farms.
In “The Legal Protection of Animals in Brazil: An overview”, Daniel
Braga Lourenço and Carlos Frederico Ramos de Jesus offer a histori-
cal analysis of the animal welfare and animal protection legislation in
Brazil. The Brazilian Constitution dedicates a whole chapter to environ-
mental protection and brings an important rule (in article 225, para-
graph 1º, VII) which determines the duty of public power to protect
animals against the acts which endanger “its ecological function, cause
the extinction of species or subject animals to cruelty”. Nonetheless, this
important legal disposition is usually interpreted in the sense of con-
ferring just an indirect protection to animals, i.e., as a way of promot-
ing the dignity of human existence. This opens a dangerous window to
practices that explore animals as things and property. The authors then
argue for a different, yet plausible, interpretation of that Constitutional
rule: it is possible to claim that, according to Brazilian Constitution,
animals are not mere things; they are subjects of right and entitled to
freedom from cruelty. Finally, they examine bills in Brazilian Legislative
that aim to change the status of animals.
In “Cases and Debates in the Brazilian Animal Rights Arena”, Bruno
Garrote presents a number of notable cases involving animal rights in
Brazil dating back a few years. These cases include typical competitions
involving bulls, horses, and cowboys, the ban on the marketing of foie
gras in the city of São Paulo, the rescue of beagles from an animal test-
ing lab, the shared custody of a dog, and the first time in history that a
writ of habeas corpus was granted to an animal, a chimp called Cecília.
6    
C. Naconecy

The last section, entitled “Factors That Influence the Brazilian Ethos
Regarding Animals”, deals with certain historical, sociocultural, and
economic aspects that supposedly influence the Brazilian ethos regard-
ing the morality of the treatment of animals. The first of these is the
legacy of the Brazilian slave-owning past. The second characteristic is
the strong presence of emotivity and passion in Brazilian popular psy-
chology, to the detriment of rationality and objectivity, and how this
affects public debates in Brazil. The third factor is the absence of the
habit of engaging in social protest in favor of ethics and worthy causes.
The fourth trait is the influence of Catholic doctrine in the country. The
last point is the impact of adverse social circumstances on the moral
desensitization of the population to the situation of animals—especially
commonplace violence, social exclusion, and poverty in Brazil.
I wish to thank all the collaborators for their contributions to this
volume, since unpublished texts were written especially for this project.
I hope this work will help professionals, researchers, and graduate stu-
dents become more familiar with the current Brazilian panorama involv-
ing the treatment of animals in the country. Readers will realize that the
animal issue in Brazil, as in other countries, also has its own potentiali-
ties, contradictions, and limitations. I trust that readers will develop at
least a bare notion of such complexity, and will henceforth be able to
deepen their interest (and perhaps involvement) in such an important
and urgent topic.

Note
1. The concern over animal welfare in the academic field, initially in the
departments of Veterinary, first arose in the 1990s in Brazil. According
to the researcher Vânia Rall, in a private conversation, the initial mile-
stone of the defense of animals in Brazilian society took place in 1895,
when the NGO International Union for the Protection of Animals
(UIPA, in Portuguese) was founded in São Paulo. As in other coun-
tries, with the advent of the Internet, local NGOs have promoted the
disclosure of facts to the Brazilian public about nationwide animal mal-
treatment, the harmful consequences of livestock farming and of meat
consumption.
 2
Food Animals in Brazil:
Five Decades of Transformation
Cynthia Schuck Paim and Marly Winckler

Abstract The authors address the profound transformations in the

consumption and production of animal-sourced foods that took place
over the last five decades in this country. Abundance of land, nat-
ural resources, and governmental incentives, combined with a pro-
nounced appetite for meat, dairy, and eggs nationally and abroad
created in Brazil the perfect conditions for the rapid expansion of the
livestock industry. They examine the consequences of this phenome-
non for the lives of animals, the health of the population, and the local
environment.

Keywords Livestock · Animal agriculture · Animal welfare · Amazon ·

Brazil

C. S. Paim (*)
Cartagena, Spain
e-mail: cynthia.paim@wolfson.oxon.org
M. Winckler
Florianópolis, Brazil
© The Author(s) 2019 7
C. Naconecy (ed.), Animals In Brazil, The Palgrave Macmillan
Animal Ethics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23377-8_2
8    
C. S. Paim and M. Winckler

1 Five Decades Ago

On a typical foggy morning in the fertile lands of the southern state
of Santa Catarina, Maria looks back at the humble wooden house that
her grandparents put together many years ago. It is 1965, and Brazil’s
new capital had just been transferred from the bustling shores of Rio
de Janeiro to the still inhospitable savannas of the Brazilian Midwest.
In some urban centers across the ocean, English bands are changing the
way people dance, and it would not be long before men would step on
the moon.
And yet, life does not feel much different in Maria’s village, with
their sparse gambrel roofs surrounded by crops and patches of araucaria
trees. She has just had breakfast, typically a large cup of coffee mixed
with milk and some bread, after tending to her young children and
the animals in the backyard, raised as an occasional source of meat and
insurance for times of hardship. While her husband, Serafin, is at the
village’s sawmill, the hours go by as Maria works on a small patch of
land nearby, where she cultivates a few subsistence crops, among which
are corn, beans, and manioc. As with most Brazilians, these crops are
the core of Maria’s family diet, and today will be no different. The
children spend the morning in the village school—Maria is adamant
about guaranteeing them a formal education, something she did not
have. They will help out with the animals in the afternoon and wait for
their parents to come home when the sun sets. As in most days, they
will eat rice, beans, manioc flour, and some salad. Milk and eggs are
provided by the animals in the backyard. Occasionally, they may also
share a small piece of meat, particularly if it is a Sunday. The family eats
together and chats about the many changes underway in the village her
grandparents first arrived as immigrants—a new road and a school are
about to be inaugurated. Maria can’t help but dream one day her chil-
dren will make it into a university.
Fast forward to 2015 and we find Maria living in the outskirts of the
state capital. Her children are well, they all made it into adult life, two
did make it to college. Serafin has just passed away, so Maria now lives
with her eldest daughter, already a grandmother herself. Her youngest
 2 Food Animals in Brazil …    
9

son stayed in the region where the village once was: he works for one of
the large pork processing plants in the state. Maria does not visit him
often: a trip to the west takes several hours by bus, not so easy to stand
in her mid-70s. So on special occasions, the family reunites in the cap-
ital. It’s Friday, and Maria is fixing her grandchildren some dinner. She
grabs some chicken nuggets and sausages from the fridge and serves
them with mashed potatoes and salad. Ice-cream is in order for dessert.
They still eat rice and beans regularly, but as with most middle-class
families, meat, eggs, and dairy are now part of their every meal.
While the ethnicities and landscapes vary, the story of Maria is
similar to that of millions of Brazilians over the last decades. Until
recently, meat was the sporadic treat on weekends and special occasions,
or a condiment used in small amounts to add flavor to the daily sta-
ples. Today, the annual availability of meat per person in this middle-
income country is higher than 100 kilograms (of which 90 kilograms
of chicken, pork and beef and 15 kilograms of fish; Fig. 1)—nearly
300 grams every day. Over 80% of the population in the country cur-
rently lives in urban centers, compared to only 45% in 1960. At the

Availability of Meat per Capita in Brazil (Kg per year)

Chicken Beef Pork
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Fig. 1 Evolution of the annual availability of chicken, beef, and pork (in kilo-
grams) per person in Brazil (Sources Associação Brasileira de Exportadores de
Carne [ABIEC], Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Suínos [ABCS], Associação
Brasileira de Proteína Animal [ABPA])
10    
C. S. Paim and M. Winckler

same time, per capita income has grown tremendously, from USD 260
in 1965 to USD 8750 in 2015.1 Nowadays, more people suffer from
the maladies that come associated with obesity than from hunger and
undernutrition. At the same time, the abrupt decline in infant mortality
rates has translated into a rapid increase in population size. Even though
average fertility rates declined from an average of 6.2–1.8 children per
woman, in five decades Brazil has gone from a population of about 70
million to over 200 million people.2
These trends are to be celebrated, along with the lives of literally mil-
lions of Brazilian citizens who made these social achievements possible.
Ensuring access to enough food to nearly all 200 million Brazilians has
been surely no small feat. Yet not all progress has been without a price.
In this chapter, we focus on the profound transformations in the con-
sumption and production of animal-sourced foods that took place over
the last five decades in Brazil, their main drivers, and the impacts on
the life of animals, on the health of the population, and on the environ-
ment. The impacts of animal agriculture in Brazil in the last five decades
are typical of similar transformations in other countries and currently
underway in other regions of the world, particularly in rapidly evolving
countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. We finish by evaluating future
trends for the livestock industry in Brazil, how these trends may affect
the lives of billions of animals in the decades to come, and possible ways
forward.

2 Production of Animal-Sourced Foods:

A Fivefold Increase in Five Decades
Brazil has gone from being a net food importer in the 1960s3 to one
of the world’s largest food producers in this century. It became, as of
2017, the second largest exporter of meat, the first exporter of beef,
and the second largest producer of soybeans, used mostly as animal
feed in Brazil and abroad.4,5 The fivefold increase in the production of
food animals witnessed in the country over the last five decades (from
less than one to nearly six billion land animals slaughtered every year;
Fig. 2) happened along with a radical transformation in the form and
 2 Food Animals in Brazil …    
11

structure of the animal production system. The changes in the pig,

poultry, and fish farming sectors were particularly dramatic, with sub-
sistence activities being replaced by highly industrialized production
processes involving the intensive production of animals at high stocking
densities in landless factory-style farms.
The transformations in the livestock industry that took place since
the 1960s were part of larger and concomitant changes in the Brazilian
economy, characterized by the expansion of the urban population as a
result of the growing industrialization process. The displacement of
large fractions of the population to urban areas, and the increase in per
capita income, translated into a rapidly growing appetite for foods per-
ceived as tastier and of higher quality. Dietary habits quickly changed,
including the incorporation of large amounts of animal products into
the Brazilian diet. At the same time, a number of reforms were intro-
duced during this period to meet the increasing demand for animal
products and boost productivity. First, new lines of subsidized credit
for production and investment were established, among which the
National Rural Credit System (NRCS), created in 1965.6 In addition
to supporting the agricultural and livestock industries, these programs

Fig. 2 Evolution of the number of land animals slaughtered in Brazil per year
(Source FAOSTAT—livestock primary)
12    
C. S. Paim and M. Winckler

boosted the growth of the animal feed sector. Soybean production, for
example, skyrocketed from 0.2 to over 80 million metric tons between
1960 and 2015.7 Formal credit programs also led to an increase in land
prices and, by extension, land concentration.8 Moreover, research and
technology development in the sector received a large impetus with the
creation of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)
in 1973, a research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Food Supply dedicated to booster productivity and enable agricultural
expansion into unexplored areas, including the Brazilian savanna known
as cerrado.
The government-led industrialization of the livestock sector in Brazil
since the 1960s was also characterized by the increasing vertical inte-
gration of the production system, particularly in the poultry and pork
industries. In this system, integrators provide growers with so-called
technological packages, namely a set of products and services including
veterinary care, technical assistance, specific feed formulations and ani-
mals selectively bred for maximum performance (product yield) within
this system. Growers raise the animals that are then sold to integrators,
often for a price based on food conversion efficiencies, namely the effi-
ciency with which the feed provided by the integrators is converted into
meat, dairy, and eggs.9 The system has therefore direct incentives for
ever-increasing per-animal production.
As in other countries, the last decades have also witnessed the
increasing concentration of the meat industry in Brazil. This has hap-
pened both through the technological intensification of meat produc-
tion, which made it hard for independent producers to compete in this
market, and the concentration of the market into the hands of a few
companies through a series of mergers and acquisitions. In the poultry
industry, two multinational companies (JBS and BRF) now account for
50% of all animals slaughtered in the country and 70% of the export
volume. A similar situation is observed in the pork industry, where
three companies (BRF, JBS, and Aurora), together account for nearly
half of the Brazilian production.10 The concentration of the market was
particularly pronounced in the last decade, with the most illustrative
example being that of JBS: it jumped from a turnover of BRL 3.5 bil-
lion (USD 1 billion) in 2004 to BRL 120 billion (USD 34 billion) in
 2 Food Animals in Brazil …    
13

2014.11 In this highly concentrated industry, profit margins for animal

growers are tight, with their maintenance in the activity highly tied to
their ability to achieve high efficiency of production.
Over the last decade, Brazil has also emerged as one of the main pro-
ducers of farmed fish in the world, with a 123% growth in tons of fish
harvested in just ten years, from 2005 to 2015.12 The development of
aquaculture is taking place similar to the development of the poultry
production chain, with increasing technological intensification through
breeding programs and feed formulations aimed at higher feed con-
version (ratio of the amount of feed consumed to animal weight gain),
increasingly shorter lifespans and the production of animals with ever
higher meat yields. With 12% of global freshwater resources and sub-
stantial investments in the sector, Brazil is estimated to be among the
top five global fish producers by 2020.13

3 Impacts on the Animals

Productivity per animal has been celebrated as the ultimate goal in the
livestock industry, in Brazil and abroad. It is on the ability to increase
per-animal production continuously that the industry has relied for
growth. But different from other industries, where increases in efficiency
bear no obvious negative side effects, in the livestock sector such gains
were not without a price, which has been paid overwhelmingly by the
animals themselves.
Productivity gains have stemmed from the selection of fast-growing
and highly productive breeds that produce more, eat less, and can be
slaughtered at a younger age, along with the manufacturing of highly
specialized diets, food additives, and drugs designed to maximize the
conversion of feed into meat, milk, and eggs, reducing feed costs. Not
surprisingly, farm animals of today look nothing like the animals of the
60s. Their physiologies and anatomies have been pushed beyond the
limits of naturally evolving biological systems.14 Even if animals were
allowed to roam free, life and reproduction outdoors in a natural envi-
ronment (or in the bucolic landscapes many people still picture when
14    
C. S. Paim and M. Winckler

thinking about the origins of their food) would be nearly impossible for
the average factory-farmed animal of today.
The welfare and health costs bore by animals used as food source in
Brazil can be grasped by considering how their physiologies were trans-
formed over the last decades. In the Brazilian pork industry, female
breeding age dropped from 8 to 4 months, with the number of pig-
lets per litter jumping from 7–8 to an average of 10–13,15 often more
than the number of functional teats of a female (cross-fostering is thus
a standard nowadays). Three weeks after birth, piglets are prematurely
removed from their mothers (under natural conditions, weaning occurs
gradually, at 2–3 months), who are then artificially inseminated again
just one week later. Today, the average commercial sow in Brazil pro-
duces more than 30 piglets per year, and is culled at 2.5–3 years of age,
when the accumulation of reproductive, locomotory, and metabolic
problems have already crippled their health. In the dairy industry, milk
production per cow increased fivefold in four decades16—nowadays,
a regular lactating cow can produce more than 10 liters per day, com-
pared to an average of less than 2 liters in the mid-70s (just enough to
feed their babies). More extreme changes were observed in the Brazilian
poultry industry.17 Among broiler chickens, average daily weight gain
has more than tripled since 1930, jumping from about 15 grams per
day to over 60 grams per day in 2015 (almost 3% of their final body
weight). At the same time, age at slaughter has reduced from 105 to
only 40 days: much heavier chickens are now slaughtered at much
younger ages. Perhaps even more impressive is the case of commercial
laying hens, which in Brazil went from production of about 80 eggs per
year in 1910 (already high compared to a laying frequency of up to 1
egg per month in its ancestral, the red jungle fowl) to over 340 eggs per
year in 2010.
Over-selection for prolificity, rapid muscle growth, egg and milk pro-
duction took a heavy toll on the health and welfare of animals, with
a high incidence of metabolic, bone and joint disorders, among other
anatomical and physiological illnesses associated with pain and chronic
suffering.18,19 Many of these illnesses have been referred to as “pro-
duction diseases”, defined as those diseases that typically become more
prevalent or severe in proportion to the potential productivity of the
 2 Food Animals in Brazil …    
15

system.20 Laying hens now suffer from osteoporosis and bone fractures:
their systems were pushed so hard to produce more eggs that most
calcium and minerals are removed from their bones.21 Meat chickens
suffer from all sorts of leg abnormalities and lameness (a painful condi-
tion that constraints, and sometimes prevent, movement)—most spend
their lives lying down. Gain of muscle mass is so rapid that the growth
of bones and internal organs cannot keep pace with it; heart failure and
respiratory insufficiency are common observations in poultry flocks.22
Lameness is also a reality for dairy cows and pigs. Breeding animals,
who give birth to the animals sold for meat, have it even tougher:
their offspring must grow very rapidly, eating as much as possible dur-
ing their short lives and growing so fast that when they get closer to
the slaughter age their physiologies are close to collapse. Breeding par-
ents have, for obvious reasons, the same genetics for fast growth and
appetite. Yet they need to survive much longer, reach sexual maturity
and reproduce. To make survival possible, they are fed only a fraction
of the calories they were selected to crave—chronic hunger is their
routine.23,24
In addition to selection and management for high productivity, other
means to reduce production costs have also included the confinement
of animals at high densities, in closed barren environments that prevent
them from fulfilling basic behavioral, physiological and psychological
needs.25 In some cases, confinement has reached extreme levels, with
typical examples including the use of gestation and farrowing crates for
breeding sows (where females are not even able to turn their bodies)
and battery cages where laying hens cannot open their wings or stand
at normal walking height. In loose indoor housing systems, on the other
hand, the high levels of dust and ammonia in the air commonly lead
to eyes and skin problems and lung pathologies.26 Palliative measures
to prevent aggression and physical harm—a widespread by-product of
the chronic stress associated with poor living conditions—have been
commonly employed and now are the industry standard. These include
mutilations such as the extraction of teeth, horns, tails, and beaks (over-
whelmingly performed without anesthetics). Poor welfare conditions
associated with poor immune function has also increased susceptibil-
ity to disease—routinely managed with the use of antibiotics in large
16    
C. S. Paim and M. Winckler

amounts. For example, in intensive tilapia farms (the most frequently

cultivated fish species in Brazil), where over 100 kilograms of fish per
cubic meter can be cultivated,27 illnesses triggered by chronic stress are
fought by adding large amounts of antibiotics to the water.
Animal suffering in the livestock industry is also exacerbated by poor
management and stockmanship. Handlers and workers at animal oper-
ations and slaughter plants in Brazil are often unqualified, and effective
(independent) welfare auditing nearly non-existing. In these situations,
errors, neglect, and abuse toward animals are to be expected. For exam-
ple, the process of catching and loading broilers into trucks destined
to abattoirs can cause the animals multiple injuries, internal bleeding,
acute stress, and death if not rigorously performed by qualified person-
nel. In Brazil, about 15 million chickens are transported to slaughter-
houses every day. According to a recent report,11 catching and loading
is often conducted by small outsourced teams of about 10 workers, in
some cases in charge of catching over 50 thousand chickens per shift.
Most workers are young and uneducated, some are illegal immigrants
without formal contracts. Naturally, a high percentage of animals with
traumatic injuries is seen in abattoirs.28

4 Impacts on the Environment

Livestock and animal feed production have put enormous pressure on
nearly every ecosystem in Brazil, from the Atlantic rainforest and the
world’s largest tropical wetland area (Pantanal), to the vast tropical
savanna known as “Cerrado” and the Amazon—the world’s largest trop-
ical rainforest.
Large areas of native vegetation have been lost to crops used as feed
(particularly soybeans) and cattle ranching in the country. Brazil is the
largest country in Latin America, and the fifth largest country in the
world, with 8.5 million square kilometers (3.2 million square miles).
Yet over 20% of its territory (the equivalent of Germany, France, Spain,
Portugal, and Italy together) has been converted into pastures in the last
decades. If such pasture land was a country, it would be the 15th largest
country in the world. An extra 7% of land (an area equivalent to the
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 The Stove Takes the Place of an Electric Stove Where There is Only a Gas
Supply

A piece of sheet metal, B, is cut to fit the space between the wires,
allowing projections at the upper and lower outside edges for
bending around the upright twisted wires. The entire stove can be
nickelplated if desired. It can be used in the same manner as an
electric stove and for the same purposes where a home is supplied
only with gas.—Contributed by E. L. Douthett, Kansas City, Mo.
 Castings without Patterns
The sketch shows a method of making small castings that I have
used for several years and the castings so produced are strong and
very durable, almost equal to the ordinary casting. The idea may be
of considerable value to inventors and home mechanics.

A Mold Made in Plaster without a Special Pattern and Run with a Soft Metal

The mold is of plaster of Paris, held in a wood frame or box, and

all that is required in the way of a pattern is a plain block or anything
that will produce an impression of the general outline of the casting,
as shown in the sketch. After the impression is made the mold
should be dusted thoroughly with black lead. The journal bearings
are then located, holes drilled in the hardened plaster and wood pins
set as shown. These pins must be of hard wood and of a diameter to
suit the finished size of the bore. Brass tubing of a suitable size is cut
off to the length required and placed on the wood pins. These pieces
of tubing will be the brass bushings in the finished castings. Babbitt
metal is melted and poured into the mold. Before pouring the metal it
is well to be sure that the plaster is thoroughly dry.
The mold is as shown, and the upper side of the metal is at all
times exposed to the air. This makes it necessary to have all core
prints on the under side, as this side will be the one in view when the
casting is finished, and the upper side, as the casting lies in the
mold, will be the inside or unexposed side. In case of curved work,
reinforcing strips of sheet brass should be placed in the mold and
imbedded in the casting, as shown in the sketch by the dotted lines.
A little practice will enable anyone to produce very neat cored
castings. and when the brass bushings are fitted to size and faced
off, and the casting painted, a piece will be produced that will
compare in finish and general usefulness with anything of the nature
that could be bought. Do not treat the brass tubes with soldering flux
unless necessary, for they should be removable so that they can be
replaced when worn.—Contributed by J. B. Murphy, Plainfield, N. J.
 A Developing-Paper Printer
Having a rush order for a large quantity of post cards, I was
compelled to adopt some way of making the prints quickly. As I was
in a place where a printer could not be secured for several weeks, I
set about making one, with good results, as shown in the
illustrations.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Parts for Making the Switch So That It will Operate Automatically as the
Cover is Moved

I first secured an ordinary soap box and took it apart, being careful
to keep the boards whole, then rebuilt it to make a box with ends
measuring 12 in. square, and 14 in. in length. In one end I cut a large
hole to admit a 60-watt tungsten globe, then, taking another board, I
fitted a knob and hinges to it and used it for a door. The other end of
the box was centered and a hole bored large enough to admit an
ordinary socket. Another hole was bored, 4 in. to the right, for
another socket. A much heavier material was used for the lid than for
the box, being at least ⁷⁄₈ in. thick. A piece of double-strength, clear
glass, 8 by 10 in. in size, was procured and set in a hole cut in the
cover so that its upper surface would be flush.

The Printer may be Set in the Table Top or Used Separately, as Desired

An ordinary single-pole switch was secured, as shown in Fig. 1,

also a small mousetrap, as shown in Fig. 2. The front part of the trap
was sawed off so that only the spring was utilized. The base of the
trap was then cut out to fit snugly on the base of the switch, into
which two corresponding holes were bored for the screws. The next
thing was to secure several clips, which were cut from sheet brass,
to operate the switch, and a lever to control the switch, as shown in
Fig. 3. The lever is 1 in. wide and 4 in. long, having a slot at the
bottom, to slip easily over the lever handle in the switch, and a hole,
drilled 1 in. above the slot, to admit a nail to keep the spring from
throwing it out of position. The clips for holding the films, or plates,
are shown in Fig. 4.

Side View of the Printer, Showing Parts Assembled and the Main Line
Connections to the Globes

After securing a double socket, of which there are many types, a

few yards of lamp cord, a piece of felt, 6 by 8 in. in size, and two
ordinary lamp sockets, I was ready to assemble the printer. The
switch was then placed on a board of the same width, the spring of
the trap placed on top of it and then fastened with screws. This
board was then cut off the length of the inside of the box and
fastened in place, with the switch and trap spring on top.
The ruby light A burns all the time, acting as a pilot in placing the
negative. When the cover B is lowered, after placing the paper, the
felt pad on the under side holding it secure, the projecting arm C
comes in contact with the switch lever D and makes the connection
to the tungsten light E. After the proper time for the exposure has
been given the cover is raised and by this action the tungsten light is
automatically shut off, leaving only the red light burning. With a 60-
watt lamp I secure a print in about 3 seconds, which is fast enough.
Of course, by using a larger lamp, the time could be reduced to a
second or more, according to the size. The time given was obtained
by experience in using ordinary brands of papers.—Contributed by
Harry Marcelle, Honolulu, H. I.
Transposing Temperature Readings
 The Readings can be Transposed from Fahrenheit to
Centigrade or Vice Versa Instantly by the Use of This Scale
 It is often necessary for the amateur scientist to transpose a
temperature reading from the Fahrenheit to the centigrade scale, or
vice versa. This is easily accomplished by means of the diagram
without the use of a formula. The centigrade readings are given on
the horizontal axis and the Fahrenheit readings on the vertical axis.
The temperature readings are the same at minus 40 deg. and from
that point on the Fahrenheit readings equal nine-fifths of the
centigrade plus 32. This reading is instantly seen by the scale.—
Contributed by James F. Boyd, Ann Arbor, Mich.
 Protecting Plans in a Shop
The magazines I used in the shop, for making a few things from
plans, became so soiled that they were unfit for the library. I now
keep them clean by using a covering made of an old picture frame
from which the back was removed and a plain glass inserted in its
place. This is placed over the magazine or other plans on the bench
and keeps them clean, dustless, open and flat.—Contributed by H. J.
Blacklidge, San Rafael, Cal.
 Homemade Eyebolts

Many times one has use for an eyebolt when there is none at
hand. Eyebolts of almost any size can be quickly made of a spring
cotter. Simply thread the end, as shown, and use a nut and washer.
—Contributed by Chas. G. England, Washington, Pa.
 To Keep Tan Shoes from Turning Dark
Tan-shoe polishes seem to rub the dirt into the leather and to
darken it in a short time. Tan shoes can be kept clean and well
polished without losing their original bright tan color if treated in the
following simple manner. Instead of using tan polish on a new pair of
shoes, dampen the end of a soft clean cloth, and rub a small portion
of the leather at a time with the moist end and then rub briskly with
the dry end. In this way tan shoes can be kept clean and nicely
polished like new.—Contributed by John V. Voorhis, Ocean Grove,
N. J.
 A Finger-Trap Trick
It is easy to fool one’s friends with the little joker made to trap a
finger. It consists of a piece of paper, about 6 in. wide and 12 in. or
more long. To prepare the paper, cut two slots in one end, as shown,
and then roll it up to tube form, beginning at the end with the cuts,
then fasten the end with glue. The inside diameter should be about
¹⁄₂ inch.
 It is Easy to Insert a Finger in the Tube, but to Get It Out is Almost
Impossible

When the glue is dry, ask some one to push a finger into either
end. This will be easy enough to do, but to remove the finger is a
different matter. The end coils tend to pull out and hold the finger. If
the tube is made of tough paper, it will stand considerable pull.—
Contributed by Abner B. Shaw, N. Dartmouth, Mass.

¶When mercury is spilled it can be picked up with a medicine

dropper.
 Homemade Roller Skates

Wheels Fitted into the Ends of a Long Board, to Make a Roller Skate

The long wheel base of the roller skate illustrated makes it quite
safe and will prevent falls. The construction of these skates is
simple, the frame being made of a board, 2 ft. long, 3 in. wide and 1
in. thick. Holes are mortised through the ends to admit the wheels. A
small block, cut out on one side to fit the heel of the shoe, is securely
fastened centrally, for width, and just in front of the rear wheel on the
board. Two leather straps are fastened to one side of each board, to
fasten the skate onto the shoe. The wheels can be turned from hard
wood, or small metal wheels may be purchased, as desired. The
axle for the wheels consists of a bolt run through a hole bored in the
edge of the board centrally with the mortise.—Contributed by Walter
Veene, San Diego, Cal.
¶The screw collar of a vise should be oiled at least once a month.
 How to Make a High Stool

The cast-off handles of four old brooms, three pieces of board, cut
as shown, and a few screws will make a substantial high stool. The
legs should be placed in the holes, as shown at A, and secured with
screws turned through the edge of the board into the legs in the
holes. The seat B should be fastened over this and the legs braced