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What have the world’s biggest food companies got to do with land grabs? More than you might think.
Companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Associated British Foods (ABF) buy and produce huge amounts of sugar around the world. And as demand for sugar increases, so does the rush for land to grow it on.
In Brazil and Cambodia, Oxfam found that companies that supply sugar to Coke and Pepsi have robbed farmers of their rights and kicked them off their land. ABF - the biggest sugar producer in Africa - is reported as linked to a range of other unresolved land disputes. Whole communities have lost their main source of food and income.
Companies like Coke, Pepsi and ABF hold significant influence over the sugar industry, but their policies are so slack that they don’t seem to know if their sugar is grown on grabbed land.
You can change this. Even the biggest food companies care what you think – because you buy what they sell.
So tell Coke, Pepsi, ABF and the rest to make sure their sugar doesn’t lead to land grabs.
UNQUOTE
Sign the petition!
Edilza Duarte, mother of two from Ponta Pora, Brazil
Companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Associated British Foods (ABF) buy and produce huge amounts of sugar around the world. And as demand for sugar increases, so does the rush for land to grow it on.
In Brazil and Cambodia, Oxfam found that companies that supply sugar to Coke and Pepsi have robbed farmers of their rights and kicked them off their land. ABF - the biggest sugar producer in Africa - is reported as linked to a range of other unresolved land disputes. Whole communities have lost their main source of food and income.
Companies like Coke, Pepsi and ABF hold significant influence over the sugar industry, but their policies are so slack that they don’t seem to know if their sugar is grown on grabbed land.
You can change this. Even the biggest food companies care what you think – because you buy what they sell.
So tell Coke, Pepsi, ABF and the rest to make sure their sugar doesn’t lead to land grabs.
UNQUOTE
Sign the petition!
Edilza Duarte, mother of two from Ponta Pora, Brazil
"They spray the field...and when the wind blows, you feel like you are breathing in the poison. When it rains, the water flows down to the river where we bathe and get drinking water...the children get sick with diarrhea and skin infections."
— Edilza Duarte, mother of two from Ponta Porã, Brazil
Too often, the sugar in your favorite food and drinks is produced by kicking farmers off their land.
Land grabs are the sugar industry's bitter secret. But we can change this.
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To whom it may concern
For
centuries, Edilza Duarte's community hunted, fished, and grew crops on
their land in Ponta Porã, Brazil. 40 years ago, that land was taken from
Edilza's people in order to grow sugar cane. Today, Edilza, her two
children, and the rest of their community face hunger and serious health
problems.
As
demand for sugar increases, so does the rush for land to grow it. Oxfam
has found that companies that supply sugar to Coca-Cola, PepsiCo,
Associated British Foods and other food and beverage giants are kicking
poor farmers off their land and robbing them of their rights – leaving
many homeless and hungry.
We can change this. You're a consumer – big food and beverage companies care what you think.
Thomas, we really do have the power to hold these corporations accountable. Through our Behind the Brands
campaign, more than 120,000 people around the world have already called
on the world's biggest food companies to change the way they do
business. And it's working – earlier this year we successfully got Mars,
Nestle and Mondelez to make big steps in improving the treatment of the
women who grow and produce their cocoa.
Now
it's time for these three sugar giants to act fast. In order to make
sure that their sugar doesn't lead to land grabs, Coke, Pepsi and ABF
need to:
- Know how their sugar impacts communities' access to land. Right now, weak company policies mean they don't seem to be paying attention.
- Show where the ingredients they use come from – and who grows them.
- Act by committing to zero tolerance for land grabs – throughout their supply chains and their own operations – and by working with governments and others to do the same.
Coke,
Pepsi and ABF won't do any of this on their own – not if we don't make
them. Speak up right now to help put a stop to land grabs.
The
sugar in our favorite drinks should not cause families like Edilza's to
go hungry – that's why we're asking you to take action with us today.
Thank you,
