Cargill

From action.RAN.org

Cargill—whose 2008 revenues totaled $120.4 billion [1] — is the second largest privately owned company in the world [2] . It also conducts most of its sales to other food companies, but its consumer brands include Diamond Crystal salt, Gerkens cocoa, Honeysuckle White poultry and Sterling Silver meats [3] . Cargill is a member of the RSPO and RTRS.

Soy Industry

The company is aggressively pursuing soy grown on illegally cleared Amazon rainforest land. Ranking second to Bunge in soy crushing capacity in Brazil [4] —with three soy-only refineries and two other refineries that process soy [5]—Cargill opened a soy port in 2003 in the heart of the Amazon to facilitate transport of the commodity from previously inaccessible forests. The effects were immediate and undeniable: Deforestation in the area doubled [6] . (The devastating effects of this port on deforestation in the Amazon were documented in Greenpeace’s 2006 report, “Eating Up the Amazon.”) The Brazilian government determined that Cargill had not provided adequate reporting of the port’s potential environmental impacts and closed it down, but Cargill continues to operate the port illegally. Cargill owns two additional soy ports in Brazil which are likely exporting soy grown in the Amazon. Cargill is now pursuing plans to build an even larger soy port and processing facility near Asunción, Paraguay, despite widespread opposition. [7]

Palm Oil Industry

Cargill also owns almost 140,000 acres of palm oil plantations in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, operating two plantations in Indonesia and three in PNG, one of which is currently being expanded by 50 percent [8]. (The nearly 60,000 acres under Cargill’s control in PNG would otherwise be communally owned by local people.) Virtually all palm oil production in these countries occurs on rainforest land cleared within the last 25 years. Cargill’s Southeast Asia palm plantations employ 10,000 permanent and 5,000 seasonal workers.[9]

Cargill operates palm oil refineries in Malaysia, India, Germany, Belgium, Russia, the Netherlands and the United States. The crude palm oil that is processed in Cargill’s refineries is sourced both from the companies own plantations and from those owned by its competitors.

References:

[1] Cargill, 2008 Summary Annual Report

[2] Food and Water Watch, “Cargill: A Corporate Threat to Food and Farming,” 2008, p. iv.

[3] Ibid, Food and Water Watch

[4] Borealis COC research, p. 39.

[5] Borealis COC research, p. 39.

[6] “The 7,000 km journey that links Amazon destruction to fast food: Farmers illegally seize virgin land for soya crops,” John Vidal, Thursday April 6, 2006, The Guardian

[7] http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39754

[8] http://www.mbe.com.pg/

[9] http://www.cargill.com/news/issues/palm_current.htm