Just four commodities—beef, soy, palm oil, and wood products—drive the majority of global deforestation. And consumers can help stop it.

"Beef. It's what's for dinner," according to a classic marketing campaign. Whether or not this is true in your home, beef is definitely the main course on the global deforestation menu.

While many commodities are driving deforestation today, all of them take a back seat to beef cattle. It's old news that beef is the biggest deforestation driver in Latin America, but recent research suggests that it's also #1 globally.

In the countries that account for most of the deforestation caused by the four major drivers, beef is responsible for more than twice as much deforestation as the other three commodities combined. When we measure the global warming emissions caused by deforestation, rather than land area, beef's role looks slightly smaller, because the forests cleared for palm oil and wood products in Southeast Asia tend to be more carbon-rich and therefore produce more emissions per unit of area. But even in terms of emissions, beef contributes the largest percentage of the four.

In South America, the numbers emphasize beef's predominance even more starkly: beef was responsible for 71% of total deforestation in South America between 1990 and 2005, versus just over 17% for all other agricultural drivers combined—including soybeans.