The “Plant-Based” Industry That Still Wrecks Land

Green on the Label, Brown on the Ground

A supermarket aisle, shelves glowing with virtue-signaling packaging.

“Plant-based. Vegan. Sustainable. Cruelty-free.”

Meanwhile—2,000 hectares of Brazilian rainforest just vanished…

To grow soy for your ethical burger patty.

No, it’s not tofu hand-pressed by monks in a Himalayan monastery.

It’s ultra-processed, plastic-wrapped, and shipped across oceans.

But hey—no cows were harmed. Just the planet.

🌿 Monoculture in a Green Cloak

The mainstream narrative: “Go plant-based to save the planet.” 🌍

The fine print:

“But first, bulldoze some forests, displace Indigenous communities, and mine the soil for monoculture yield.” 🚜

Monoculture doesn’t become sustainable just because it’s vegan.

If we’re still farming like colonizers, we’re not solving the climate crisis—

We’re just changing the flavor of destruction.

🍔 The Soyburger Illusion

Here’s what they won’t say in the commercial:

• Most soy isn’t fed to livestock. It is the livestock now.
• Large-scale soy, pea, and almond production = Chemical-heavy, water-thirsty, biodiversity-killing farms.
• “Vegan-friendly” ≠ Ecosystem-friendly
• And no—eating a factory-made pea protein puck doesn’t make you a climate hero.

📈 Scaling Sustainability vs. Sustaining the Scaled

The real solution?

• Support local, diversified, regenerative agriculture
• Eat seasonally, culturally, and consciously
• Grow food without wrecking entire biomes

But that’s hard to:

✅ Brand

✅ Patent

❌ Scale for venture capital returns

So instead, we mass-produce processed greens with a brown trail.

Because climate virtue now comes in vacuum-sealed packets.

🌍 Final Thought: If It Still Destroys Forests, It’s Not Sustainable

Going plant-based can be good—

But not if it’s just agribusiness in a lettuce hat.

Don’t ask: 🥩 “Is it meat or plant?”

Ask:

🌾 “Did this meal regenerate or deplete the land it came from?”

Swapping burgers isn’t enough— If we’re still farming like the world is disposable.