Deforestation

A silent forest, without wolves, lynxes or bird nests. A green space without green, or yellow, or blue, a forest without life. This is the result of deforestation: death. The Amazon, the world’s largest tropical forest, contains approximately 10% of the planet’s biodiversity, but in the last 50 years it has lost 20% of its territory and is constantly on alert due to deforestation. In Indonesia, three orangutan species are at risk of extinction as a result of deforestation. Last year, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) reported that between 2004 and 2017 approximately 43 million hectares of forest were lost globally thanks to deforestation. Scientists fear that this problem will lead the way to the next pandemic, as it could trigger the spread of infectious diseases. According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study, between 2003 and 2015, a 10% annual increase in forest loss led to a 3% increase of malaria cases. With the onset of uncontrollable proportions, from year to year, the world has been forced to uncross its arms. The change came from the exorbitant and alarming figures that the press communicated to the world, from the speeches of scientists, presidents and  environmentalists, it came from the fear for the future and from the risk of future generations living in a world without colour and engulfed in diseases.

Europe is one of the main drivers of deforestation

Sustainability hence began to be part of brands’ reality, becoming a necessary condition for customers and a mandatory requirement in company service and production. The aesthetically beautiful is no longer enough, since the composition of the product may be misleading and, therefore, informing people about where a product comes from and how is a company’s duty and a consumer’s right. The importing of products, such as soy, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee make Europe one of the main drivers of global deforestation and, as a response, the food sector has adopted a more conscious stance. The Nestlé brand, for example, has committed to working with palm oil in a more sustainable way. Widely used by the company the product consists of an oil extracted from the fruit of a palm tree, which normally lives between 28 and 30 years. Danone, on the other hand, has started to ration soy, wood pulp, used for packaging, and palm oil. There are other brands, such as Reckitt Benckiser and Procter & Gamble, doing the same. Consumers themselves have also had to adapt.

The environment’s balance depends on the world’s food

The environment’s balance depends on the world’s food, and it was not so long ago that we began to hear about future foods. This term corresponds to the pillar of innovation and adaptation and is the new reality of the food sector. Forces have been joined to develop foods and drinks that are both healthy and sustainable, through the exploration of new forms of production, as well as the involvement of other types of agents, from specialists to producers with palpable sustainable practices. Brands have been moving towards presenting a wider range of sustainable solutions that are easily accessible to all, doing the ‘walk the talk’ to touch the heart of humanity, sparing nature from further suffering.