With help from the Rainforest Alliance, a brave young Costa Rican tree frog is traveling around the world to make new friends and find out what humans are doing to help save her home. This is the third in a series of five weekly dispatches about her experiences.
Marcelo de Souza stands like a commander surveying the kitchen of his popular restaurant in Vila Madalena, a trendy quarter of São Paulo. The farm-to-table movement is catching fire, and with his own greenhouse, street-side herb garden, and steady supply of grass-fed beef shipped in from just outside the city, Chef Marcelo is poised to transform the way this city eats.
He barks at his sous chefs, then turns his intimidating gaze to the restaurant manager. I listen to his outburst while nestled deep in his jacket pocket. He’s just learned that the new manager, hoping to save a few centavos, changed the restaurant’s latest order of grass-fed beef to conventional beef. Soon Marcelo is out the door headed to the supplier to straighten things out.
But as he passes the neighborhood’s organic farmers’ market, one of only a handful in this city of 12 million, he can’t resist stopping. “Chefão!” a vendor cries. “You must try this!” A spoonful of Amazonian honey sends Marcelo into a reverie. Leaping from his pocket to the table to catch a drop of honey, I point to the price tag. Marcelo balks. The vendor explains that deforestation caused by the huge increase in grass-fed beef has reduced honeybee populations, making it harder for beekeepers to earn a living. “Forty-thousand square miles of rainforest cleared for cattle grazing?! Fala sério?” he asks. The man nods grimly. “It’s true. Grass-fed cattle ranches may produce better quality than feedlots, but for us they have been a curse. Fortunately, you can find certified cattle farms that raise grass-fed beef sustainably,” the vendor says, handing him a brochure and pointing to a booth down the street. “Hmm. More trees, cleaner operations, and lower greenhouse emissions? I’ll check it out.” I jump back in his pocket, ready for our next stop. My afternoon pocket nap will have to wait.
Content on this page is provided by the Rainforest Alliance, supporter of the Vital Signs platform.
More from the Frog Diaries series:
- Brooklyn girl follows the frog.
- Backyard naturalist follows the frog.
