See RAN’s shocking new Cargill fact sheet here.

Citing multiple corporate crimes ranging from slave labor, driving climate change and monopolizing the food chain to putting profits before food safety, the 99% took moral law into their own hands to perform a “Citizens’ Arrest” of Cargill, Inc. An Occupy Cargill protestor at the rally explained it this way: “Corporations aren’t people, but if they have the same rights as a person, shouldn’t they have the same responsibilities? So, can’t we arrest them for their criminal behavior?”

Cargill, Inc. is the largest privately held corporation in the world. The corporation’s annual revenue of $119 billion is higher than 70% of the world’s countries GDPs and the family that controls it is the richest in America. Cargill, Inc. is plagued with worldwide controversy around many of its commodities, including palm oil, salt, cotton, chocolate and grain as well as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and carbon trading.  Agricultural free trade policies that benefit Cargill come at a high price for family farmers, food sovereignty, human rights, and the climate.

Departing from the former Occupy Minneapolis encampment site known as People’s Plaza, citizens marched in a “search party” to find this fugitive suspect, Cargill, Inc., to bring this corporate “person” to justice. Multiple speakers at the rally railed against Cargill’s corporate personhood and its extensive lobbying of governments for free trade policies that benefit its profits at the expense of people and planet.

Unable to find this corporate “person,” activists posted the arrest warrant at the last-seen location of Cargill, Inc.: The Minneapolis Grain Exchange. If I were this criminal, I would turn myself in to the 99% and beg for mercy.

Click for larger image

There are some who say that corporations are people. So can you arrest one?

Well, we’re going to find out.

Right now, corporations technically have the same First Amendment rights as real live people (as ruled by the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC two years ago). So shouldn’t we (real live people) hold corporations to the same level of accountability that we do other people when it comes to trashing the planet and shamefully disregarding human rights?

As global citizens, it is time to intervene.

In Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, join our coalition of citizens who are invoking the true purpose of a citizens’ arrest: to halt a dangerous and harmful criminal in their tracks. We will form search parties and take to the streets to see if anyone has seen this corporate “person,” known as Cargill, Inc. so the 99% can bring “him” to justice.

This “citizens’ arrest” will spotlight Cargill’s abuse of corporate personhood and corporate manipulation of the global food system by highlighting the company’s many crimes against human dignity. Cargill’s pursuit of the “commercialization of photosynthesis”, as touted by CEO Greg Page, has led our world toward a dangerous consolidation of power over our food supply in the hands of the 1%. Are companies with a bottom line of profit to be trusted with the well-being of people and planet? With a corporation that has a particularly bad track-record like Cargill’s, the answer is obviously no.

"Wanted: Cargill, Inc" posters have mysteriously appeared all over the Minneapolis calling for a citizens' arrest of the corporation for 'profiteering off people and planet.'

It is time to Occupy Cargill, to stop these corporate crimes against human dignity, and reclaim control over our food and health in the name of justice and sustainability. What we can create must and will be better. It starts this weekend in Minneapolis.

End Corporate Personhood. Occupy Our Food Supply!

We hope you will be able to join us if you are in the Twin Cities area. RSVP on Facebook today!

Whether or not you can make it to Minneapolis to help us apprehend Cargill, you can follow our live updates via Twitter: @theprobwithpalmoil

Big Food and Big Banks are two peas in a proverbial pod. Cloaked in corporate personhood, they form a 1%-reciprocal relationship to profiteer from deregulation while endangering our health, poisoning our land, and blocking sustainable long-term solutions in the name of short-term profit.

Thank goodness everyday people are reclaiming our food supply from the insanely unsustainable hands of the corporate few. We are putting our own hands into the soil and raising our fists to resist the corporate food regime.

There is much fertile ground in the ‘convergence in diversity’ between the Occupy/Decolonize movement and the Food movement. The systems-level analysis provoked by the Occupy Wall Street movement is getting down to the roots of today’s rampant problems and injustices, and the food movement has some sensible solutions that grow from the roots up.

Millions of people recognize that Big Ag is bad for human health and the health of the planet. It is a dinosaur economy. Local agriculture creates healthy communities and provides meaningful, fair work without the toxins and exploitation enforced by Big Ag’s bottom line.

For example, agirculture giant Cargill’s manipulation of food prices and markets has done a lot to create a food system that the company would love to call “too big to fail.” The problem is that it IS failing, badly, and lives are on the line.

Recently, Cargill CEO Greg Page pulled a PR stunt attempting to launch a “too big to fail” analysis of Cargill’s role in fighting world hunger. But multiple UN and multi-institutional academic studies show that organic agriculture and agroecology have a better chance of creating food security and solving the problems of hunger than corporations that are exploiting ecosystems for monoculture crops, jumping from crisis to crisis, and speculating and profiteering all along the way. Barry Estabrook lists dozens of similarly concluded studies in The Atlantic, including a U.N.-supported study with over 400 expert contributors that calls on governments to support sustainable and small-scale agricultural practices to increase food security.

Shouldn’t that put the onus on the corporate food regime to show they actually can do it better? Big Ag’s dismissal of organic farming’s potential stands comparatively unsubstantiated. But maybe that’s exactly how companies like Cargill want it, because the reality is that Big Ag is a bad way to organize our food system.

This is just one example, and Cargill employs the same free trade business model (profit over everything) for hundreds of commodities!

For example, let’s look at the global mess Cargill has contributed to with palm oil. Increasing demand for a cheap vegetable oil with a decent shelf life has put palm oil and its derivatives on over half of the ingredients labels of packaged foods in grocery stores. But where does palm oil come from? The majority of the time it comes from deforestation of precious rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia. The rate of deforestation in Indonesia is at 3.6 million acres per year, which equals just over 5 football fields of deforestation per minute. Forests are replaced with monoculture oil palm plantations as far as the eye can see.

This is causing many social and environmental problems such as land grabs displacing Indigenous and forest-dependent communities, as well as poor working conditions that include slave-labor conditions on monoculture palm oil plantations. It is also contributing to the looming extinction of species like the Orangutan and decimating high-carbon value peatlands, which has helped catapult Indonesia to the #3 spot on the list of the world’s highest greenhouse gas emitters. The plantation workers and their families often live on palm plantations with little food security as plantations displace community gardens. Already there are cases of bankrupt plantations leaving workers and their families struggling with hunger. This is corporate colonialism, eliminating Indonesia’s vital national heritage for the benefit of the First World 1%. It’s time to Occupy Cargill.

Occupy Minneapolis protest across from the Grain Exchange building where Cargill gambles on world food prices, Oct. 2011

A palm oil policy with commitments around human rights, greenhouse gas emissions, and rainforest protection would be the very minimum to justify Cargill even being allowed to call their business model ethical. But at the end of the day, we know it is a bigger system-change that is needed, a change that goes beyond corporate sustainability lip service. We need to create alternatives that are allowed to out-compete Big Ag’s business as usual.

It’s time to Occupy Our Food Supply and reclaim food sovereignty from the corporate food regime.

Katie Burgess, Executive Director of Minneapolis-based Trans Youth Support Network, calls out Cargill's absuvie labor and environmental history. Photo Credit: Taylor Foster

Katie Burgess, executive director of the Trans Youth Support Network, was asked to address the 18th Annual Coming Out Day Luncheon last week. But when she learned that Cargill was a corporate sponsor of the event, she decided to address an issue that was far more important than keeping everyone comfortable.

Instead of kissing up to the corporate sponsor, Katie eloquently revealed to an astonished but well-heeled audience of 300 the ugly truth about Cargill: No charitable sponsorship will ever be able to hide the devastation that it has caused to forests and communities around the world as Cargill abuses people and planet in a rush for unethical profit.

Read Katie’s strong, eloquent speech exposing Cargill’s despicable record on everything from palm oil to child labor to weakened food safety standards.

I had a chance to speak with Katie last week in a coffee shop on Lake Street in Minneapolis and was so inspired by her wise, compassionate description of movement intersectionality: where LGBTQ communities and organizations struggling for rights, recognition, and support meet the stark realities of international solidarity. Katie recognizes that even an event promoting LGBTQ equality in the workplace can be dwarfed if the corporate sponsor’s work is actively oppressing and endangering LGBTQ and other communities. There are literally billions of people around the world that are suffering under the free trade and corporatized agricultural systems advocated for and ruled by Cargill, and it is this larger, deeper, and serious concern to which Katie drew the attention of the luncheon attendees at the Minneapolis Hilton last week.

We support Katie’s bold choice to go against the grain in solidarity with people around the world who suffer and even die because of Cargill’s profit motive. Her words to Cargill say it all:

You have left a sea of bodies in your hurried wake. Bodies who are continuously policed by this system for existing outside of gender norms, for not being white, for being disabled, for being born in foreign countries, or for desiring and expressing their own femininity.

Let me share with you some examples:

In 2005, the International Labor Rights Fund filed suit against Cargill, Nestlé and Archer Daniels Midland in federal court on behalf of children who were trafficked from Mali into the Ivory Coast and forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day with no pay, little food and sleep, and frequent physical abuse on cocoa bean plantations.

Cargill is the leading importer of palm oil into the United States. Palm oil expansion is a leading cause of forest loss in Indonesia and has a devastating impact on biodiversity, forest-dependent peoples, and the climate.

In 1970, Cargill sold 63,000 tons of seed grain to Basra, Iraq treated with methylmercury, a practice banned in most Western countries. Though intended for agricultural use, and not for human or animal consumption, some recipients used it as food, as the only printed warnings about the poison were written in English and Spanish, intended as warnings for American dock workers. This led to the deaths of 93 people.

How many of them were LGBTQ? Were their deaths and mistreatment factored into Cargill’s 100% rating in HRC’s 2010 Corporate Equality Index? Our struggles are bound together. When they came for your children in Mali, I did not speak up because I am from the United States. When they came for my workplace equality, there was no one left to speak up. Our community spans more than these strung together letters of LGBTQ. Our liberation is bound with all whom struggle against these machine works of oppression.

Members and allies of the Trans Youth Support Network at a rally to end violence against Trans Women of Color in Minneapolis, July 2010.

Following Katie’s speech, Cargill employees came up to her to ask for sources, saying they had never heard about these issues and want to talk about it at work. Go employees, talk! Complain! Demand change. Cargill executives can’t hide the truth from us all.

More and more people are seeing and hearing the truth. More and more people are rejecting the status quo. It’s up to all of us. It is my hope that Katie’s choice to address Cargill’s pinkwashing will create a much-needed dialogue in the GLTB organizational community (and within any advocacy or issue-based community) about who we choose to partner with to advocate for a better world. Organizations must be scrupulous in making sure sponsors walk their ethical talk.

Katie Burgess, thank you for boldly speaking truth to power.

As the largest privately-owned corporation in the United States, Cargill is a classic example of too much power in the hands of too few, and a disturbing indicator of how corporate greed literally makes us sick.

“[The Occupy movement] is about the corporate takeover of democracy of our lives in every way. The food movement is inherently anti-corporate and it is inherently about rebuilding a real economy… Occupy Wall Street is not just about banking legislation…  It’s all connected.” – Author and activist Naomi Klein

Cargill Inc., a multi-national corporation worth $120+ billion dollars, is privately held almost exclusively by about 100 family members. Seven of these Cargill family members are billionaires. Cargill has done business in a way that has monopolized our food supply and held global citizens and governments alike hostage as they manipulate prices for commodities upon which our very lives depend.

Four Reasons Why Cargill is on Occupy Wall Street protesters’ shit list:

1.    “Cargill is the Goldman Sachs of commodities trading,” according to Mark Connelly, an analyst at Credit Agricole Securities USA in New York. “They have real-time insight into dozens of markets and use it to add value in all their businesses.”

The company reported $4.2 billion in record profits in the same fiscal year that world hunger rates, rainforest destruction rates in palm-oil producing countries, and world economic downturns all hit crisis. With a CEO like Greg Page cheerleading deregulation and weakening enforcement of international and domestic oversight agencies, this is the pillage-and-plunder free market he always wanted.

2.    “They’re not part of the food chain; they are the chain,” says Dan Basse, president of Chicago-based research firm AgResource Co.

Monopolization of food production, processing and distribution has allowed agribusiness giants to push developing governments around, using hoarding and speculation to manipulate prices and punish regulation attempts. Cargill was implicated in the “Tortilla Wars” in Mexico in 2007 for driving up the cost of corn on purpose. So much for “nourishing the world.”

3.    Cargill sidestepped at least $9 billion in taxes in 2010. Reuters’ Lisa Lee reported in January 2011 that the “Cargill Valuation Validates the Wall St. Rules of Thumb” in regards to their spin-off of Mosaic fertilizer company. When the a charitable trust for the late Margaret Cargill (great-granddaughter of the founder) needed cash for her namesake foundation, the company’s financial contortionists manipulated the maneuver to reach $9 billion in “tax savings.”

OccupyMN is doing fantastic organizing, right in Cargill's backyard, to expose and stop corporate greed, along with hundreds of other occupations happening around the world.

4.    Cargill manipulates your concern about world hunger to undermine real solutions.
CEO Greg Page encourages executives to intensely lobby government officials for zero regulation on food industry in favor of “free markets” in order to promote “food security.” All the while, Cargill is weakening oversight of food supply chains that incentivizes slave labor, destroys environments, and obliterates localized food systems, endangering public health. Cargill wants to “nourish the world” by bankrupting farmers and selling the world crappy, toxic, spoiled food. The turkey recall was truly just the tip of the iceberg.

So here’s my question to you:

Given that:
a) Cargill’s corporate greed and monopolization of food markets has contributed to/exacerbated our most dire problems (hunger, environmental destruction, climate chaos, worker exploitation, etc.);
b) Cargill has facilities in nearly all 50 states in addition to 62 other countries;
c) And the Occupy/Decolonize movement is rising up to challenge corporate power and end greedy exploitation…

Is it time to Occupy Cargill?

Earthdance has partnered with Critical Beats and Cyberset Music to create this one-of-a-kind compilation featuring contributions from Govinda, Bluetech and DJ Spooky in collaboration with Amazon indigenous musicians. Download the new album today!

Some of the world’s hottest DJs, including Govinda, Bluetech, and DJ Spooky, teamed up with Indigenous musicians from the Amazon to create some truly inspirational music. Now it’s your turn to inspire and be inspired by their beats.

Earthdance International, Critical Beats for the Climate, and Rainforest Action Network are teaming up to promote the new compilation, called Critical Beats For Gaia. Proceeds will directly benefit frontline rainforest communities through RAN’s Protect-An-Acre grants program.

RAN’s most recent Protect-An-Acre grantshave supported everything from deforestation mapping and case studies in Indonesia to the Achual community’s permaculture project in the Peruvian Amazon. This work is central to RAN’s mission, as this is where real change happens: on the ground, from community to community. While we can shift markets and demand accountability for U.S.-based corporations, it’s vital to do this work in solidarity with and in support of frontline and Indigenous communities most impacted by the destructive practices we are all trying to stop.

Each year, Earthdance International organizes people around the world to promote synchronized world-wide “events for peace” in September. This fantastic group helps connect activists, meditation communities, peacemakers, and organizations to grow a just and sustainable world, starting with ourselves and our communities and then working to spread the peace globally.

Now, Earthdance and Critical Beats for the Climate have teamed up to create even more possibilities to support frontline communities through the release of this beautiful new compilation. Critical Beats for Gaia features so many incredible DJs and producers, it is the perfect opportunity to spread awareness through music and reach out to people who want to be part of the solution.

Activists chat with Wayzata, MN residents on September 10-11 at the annunal J. J. Hill parade.

If a place exists where Cargill has spent the time and resources to look as proper as the front row of a church on Sunday, it’s in the wealthy Minnesota suburbs where the quiet giant is headquartered.

Unfortunately for everyone else, Minnesota is also the only place (besides the Internet) where Cargill bothers to try and resemble a good neighbor. For the rest of us — from your average American carnivore to San Francisco Bay conservationists to palm oil plantation workers — Cargill is a name as rotten as a recalled turkey sausage. As CEO Greg Page will tell you, Cargill’s in it for the money above all else.

Cargill released some updated palm oil commitments in July 2011. The problem is that these commitments are too little, too late. They still don’t comprise a solid policy with safeguards regarding climate impacts and labor conditions, both HUGE problems with palm oil.

Now, it seems like Cargill is even losing ground in its hometown. Local Minnesota activists attended Wayzata’s annual James H. Hill Parade last weekend to distribute a flier setting the facts straight about Cargill and palm oil. Maybe you wouldn’t expect palm oil activists in Cargill’s hometown to be very well received, but they were!

When activists handed out the fliers, they had to actually explain that they weren’t with Cargill, but actually taking action to change the company. Only after the activists explained that they weren’t with Cargill were people willing to talk with them. And once they learned about the campaign, Wayzata parade-goers (and even Cargill employees) were supportive of the activists’ efforts. Multiple people told them to keep up the good work.

Well, we will certainly keep up the good work. Thanks Wayzata!

Dozens of orangutan skulls were amongst 400 illegal materials of endangered animals confiscated in a raid in Austrailia in August 2011. Photo: Jakarta Post

An article in yesterday’s Jakarta Post identifies the role of palm oil plantations in the illegal souvenir trade of the skulls of endangered orangutans. Indonesia-based Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) has reported four orangutan skulls found on a palm oil plantation in Central Kalimantan and another orangutan corpse buried on a palm oil plantation in East Kalimantan.

As Indonesia’s biodiverse rainforests are destroyed and fragmented, leading to the rapid decimation of critical habitat to make way for corporate agribusiness operations, orangutan populations become more vulnerable to poachers. And the fact that many palm oil plantations pay their workers wages so low that they’re on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Red List for Slave Labor is only exacerbating the problem of illegal poaching of nearby apes for the lucrative souvenir trade of orangutan skull (even as these plantations nose up to the last bits of orangutan habitat, no less).

As the Jakarta Post article states, effective government enforcement of existing anti-poaching and animal trade laws is needed urgently. It is also the responsibility of the palm oil plantations creating this nightmarish situation to not house or promote these illegal operations. Similarly, major U.S.  importers of this bloodied palm oil, like Cargill Inc., should have policies for their palm oil imports that specific creates safeguards against both the human exploitation and animal cruelty from entering this commodity’s supply chain.

This is a situation where fast action is needed. Fortunately, there are activists, researchers, scientists, and communities taking a stand. Together, we can accumulate knowledge and solutions. You can read a first-hand account of Sean Whyte, an inspiring orangutan activist, and his network of Ape Crusaders (the title of his newest book).

Cutting safety corners to optimize profits is a lethal practice in the corporate sector recently seen with Cargill’s 36 million pound turkey meat recall.

Sometimes it’s hard to break a bad habit. Especially if that bad habit is sabotaging safety in the name of record profits.

But why must the public continually shoulder the consequences of Cargill’s greedy weak spot?

There are many hidden costs of our industrialized food system, but some times it’s impossible to keep them out of sight. Just last week, Cargill  initiated the second-largest meat recall in U.S. history, pulling almost 36 million pounds of ground turkey off the market after a salmonella outbreak linked to one death and 79 illnesses in 26 states. This is yet another clear warning signal that our global industrial food system is failing.

Meanwhile, Cargill quietly reported another record: $4.2 billion in net profits from the 2010 fiscal year, a 63% annual increase. It’s pretty damn obvious that making so much money is coming at a cost of neglecting basic safety standards and environmental responsibility. As a global food trader, Cargill is addicted to putting the very health and safety of human beings around the world second to its own profits.

When public safety is jeopardized by our own dinner plates, many of us naturally step back and ponder, “How could something like this happen?” Some people (correctly) point to recent state and federal budget cuts limiting government agencies like the Food and Drug Agency from being able to enforce safety regulation. While the assertions are correct — the FDA’s mission is not effectively enforced — this unfortunately is only a piece of the problem.

If the turkey didn’t make you sick, the nasty industrial food system sure will…

This is what our food system looks like on drugs.

To fully trace how deadly turkey, lethal eggs, and sickening spinach end up all over the country in a matter of days, we need to step back and look at the current global food system as a whole.

Today, this issue is generating more attention than ever, in part due to the fact that more and more people are dying from disease-causing bacteria from Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) — a key component of our current consolidated food system. The connections between the methods of industrial food production, agricultural policy, food-borne illness and food safety scandals run deep.

Less than 400 critically endangered Sumatran tigers remain in the wild. No more habitat deforestation for palm oil & paper!

What do the environmental and animal rights movements have in common? More than you might think, including a profound love of certain vegan products that mark an intersection of our work to create a more just and sustainable future for all of Earth’s inhabitants.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in a keynote panel at the close of the 2011 National Animal Rights Conference in Los Angeles. Every seat in the large ballroom was taken by a dedicated animal rights activist, even though it was late on a Sunday evening. Prior to the presentation, as I walked past tables and booths and chatted with people, I was inspired by the many folks I met who have dedicated so much of their time and energy to their values and beliefs.

I had been asked to speak on a panel about bridges between the animal rights and environmental movements. Also on the panel were Taryn Kiekow, a lawyer with Natural Resources Defense Council, and Dr. Rose Marie White, Southern California Endangered Species chair of the Sierra Club. Taryn spoke about NRDC’s work to protect whales, and Rose Marie talked about how struggles to protect land are also struggles to protect the incredible species of wildlife that reside there.

George Shea, who hosted the keynote panel, spoke in his introductory comments about the paramount issue of climate change, and it’s connection to species extinction risks, thus situating climate change as a primary issue of animal rights.

In my presentation, I echoed George’s concerns of climate change’s risk of driving extinction, and of the right of animals to exist. I focused my analysis through the lens of deforestation. Indonesia’s rainforests are home to incredible, majestic, and endangered creatures such as the orangutan and Sumatran tiger. Currently, Indonesia’s rapid pace of deforestation has made the country the world’s 3rd largest greenhouse gas emitter behind the US and China. That’s right: Not only does rainforest destruction directly threaten the habitat of wildlife, it also releases more greenhouse gases than all of the cars, trains, planes, and trucks in the U.S. combined! Exacerbating climate change will only further endanger all of us, including our animal relatives.

Animal rights , environmental, social justice and climate justice activism all have significant reasons to confront the drivers of deforestation in Indonesia. This issue is a major intersection in our movements.

It was incredible to name those drivers of deforestation in my presentation: pulp and paper and palm oil plantation expansion. Many people in the room already know about Cargill, the largest privately owned corporation in the world, and the #1 importer of palm oil in the United States. Cargill has long been on the animal rights sh*t-list because of their inhumane profit model in the cattle industry. Now animal rights activists have another reason to work to stop Cargill from practicing business as usual: The company has no commitments to change its palm oil supply chain in time to save Sumatran tigers and orangutans.

You can take action by signing our petition to Cargill right now. Then, call Cargill and tell CEO Gregory Page exactly what you think about their palm oil problem: 1-800-CARGILL (1-800-227-4455).

Earth Balance vegan buttery spread contains palm oil sourced from RSPO-members. Not enough.

What came as a surprise to some and an ironic twist to others is the fact that palm oil is in some of our most beloved vegan products, including Earth Balance vegan buttery spread. OH THE SALTY TEARS! While Earth Balance knows its consumers enough to have a palm oil statement on its homepage, the company is still standing behind sourcing from Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) members. Membership is not certification. My mom could join the RSPO for $3,000. Just kidding. Kind of. But seriously, read RAN Agribusiness Campaigner Ashley Schaeffer’s blog about the RSPO Membership Myth. Earth Balance needs to only source RSPO-certified palm oil, RSPO-member-supplied is NOT enough for the expectations of a vegan consumer base.

Vegans and animal rights activists have made inspiring, courageous choices to live by their values. Palm oil ending up in vegan products that are causing orangutan extinction is a time bomb in consumer advocacy that vegan product suppliers would be wise to address rather than avoid. And we know animal rights advocates are not going to settle for anything other than real solutions.

After the talk, I was inspired by how many people were so excited to get involved, to take action, and to learn more. By strategically aligning our movements where our issues overlap, we can make significant strides in protecting rainforests, the creatures that depend on this habitat, and keeping our climate stable. In this way, we are bridging our movements around focused strategy and solutions, and this is an issue we will WIN!

Left to right: Wounded Knee DeOcampo (Me-wuk), Tony Cerda (Rumsen Ohlone), Mickey Gemmill, Jr (Pit River), Naiche Dominguez (Apache/Ohlone), Wicahpiluta Candelaria (Rumsen Ohlone/ Apache) at Segorea Te.

Nearly 100 days of continuous prayer on-site at Segorea Te (also known as Glen Cove) near San Francisco, California, has precipitated a precedent-setting victory for the protection of a sacred site and ancestral burial site near Vallejo, California.

Here’s the good news:

Yesterday, the Yocha Dehe and Cortina tribes established a cultural easement and settlement agreement with the City of Vallejo and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD). The agreement sets a legal precedent for granting Native peoples jurisdiction over their sacred sites and ancestral lands. The cultural easement forever guarantees that the Yocha Dehe and Cortina tribes will have legal oversight in all activities taking place on the sacred burial grounds of Sogorea Te/Glen Cove. It also represents a significant step forward in enacting tribal sovereignty, as the first such easement under CA Senate Bill 18 to be negotiated at the city and recreational district levels.

Morning Star Gali (Pit River) and Wounded Knee DeOcampo (Me-wuk) – Photo by Scott Braley

For more details, check out the Committee to Protect Glen Cove’s press release.

The historical and cultural value of the 3,500-year old site continues to be spiritually important to California tribes. On April 14th 2011, local Native Americans and supporters began a 24-hour prayer vigil at Sogorea Te to prevent the Greater Vallejo Recreation District from bulldozing/grading a large portion of the sacred site and constructing bathrooms and a parking lot.

Rainforest Action Network is honored to stand in solidarity with the Committee to Protect Glen Cove. We sent an email to our 100,000+ supporters featuring an action alert that helped garner over 1500 emails from RAN activists to decision-makers in the City of Vallejo, Greater Vallejo Recreation Committee, and Native American Heritage Council urging for respect of sacred sites and the Native community. RAN staff and volunteers also organized an awesome benefit event in San Francisco that raised $700 to support the ongoing prayer vigil at Glen Cove. We are so happy to have been able to help impact this important local struggle.

The role that an organization like Rainforest Action Network has in supporting the Native leaders who are protecting Glen Cove isn’t just a good deed to be proud of. It is our responsibility to respect and stand in solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples whose land we live and work on. Thank you and congratulations to everyone who has worked to protect Segorea Te!

Our friendly balloons, flyers, and palm-oil-free candy were well-received by parade-goers of all ages. Seems like people in Wayzata like rainforests. Cargill should take the hint.

Every 4th of July, the red, white and blue comes out in a big way in Wayzata, Minnesota, an affluent suburb of the Twin Cities. An annual pancake breakfast, bicycle parade, and day-long festivities are something people look forward to each year. Neighbors greet one another’s families as they gather to celebrate with their community.

Since Cargill‘s headquarters are a few miles away, many Cargill employees and executives and their families reside in the area.

Around Wayzata, Cargill is known for being a big employer, a family-owned company, and invested in the local community. What isn’t known as commonly is the darker side of Cargill experienced by our neighbors around the world. So this year, amongst the red, white and blue of Independence Day, local youth and activists with Rainforest Action Network shared a positive and important message with the Wayzata community.

Even on festive summer holidays we should remember that rainforest destruction is not taking a vacation. As community members gather on Independence Day in Wayzata, it is more important than ever to share awareness and positive messages that remind us that we all have a role to play in voicing our concerns and ending Cargill’s involvement in rainforest destruction. The company must adopt strong palm oil policies (and FAST) if we are going to preserve endangered species like the orangutan from extinction. Indigenous communities in Indonesia are being exploited by land theft and slave labor, and Cargill’s continued lack of substantive action means the company continues to be the ‘neighbor from hell’ in Indonesia.

On the 4th of July, we are reminded that abusively exploitative conditions were what led to the Declaration of Independence. The struggle for equilibrium and justice continues.

Youth and activists with RAN-Twin Cities attended Wayzata's Fourth of July Kids Parade with an important, positive message to share.

We as global citizens have a responsibility to spread awareness and empower people to be part of the solution and not to stifle the truth of shameful global realities — especially when the responsibility for these injustices can literally be laid at the feet of the person who lives next door. People who are proud of their country and their community deserve to know what these entities are doing around the world  and demand something better.

Cargill, treat your neighbors in Indonesia the same way you would treat your neighbors in sweet old Wayzata!

P.S. 321's 3rd graders have a message for Disney: Protect Rainforests!

The third graders at P.S. 321 in Brooklyn know why rainforests matter.

One student in Sara Greenfield’s 3rd grade class broke it down to the basics: “Rainforests give us food, medicine, even the air we breathe. Why would anyone cut them down?”

Good question. When I got the chance to visit these students amidst their rainforest-themed classrooms and projects last April, I was pleasantly surprised to see not only how many facts students knew about rainforests, but also how passionate they were about saving them. These students were thrilled about our Rainforest-Safe Book List, and were shocked to hear that a company as famous as Disney would have the audacity to print books on paper that comes from rainforests.

Fortunately these students know how to spring into action for what they believe in!

Not only did they take a great class picture reminding Disney to protect rainforests, they also helped to raise funds to support the Rainforest Action Network’s efforts during their annual Walk-A-Thon fundraiser. This year, P.S. 321 students, faculty, and families helped to raise a whopping $3,400 to support Rainforest Action Network, and also raised similar amounts for nonprofits working on other crucial issues around the world. Wow, thanks!

P.S. 321 students at their annual Walk-A-Thon.

P.S. 321, thank you, on behalf of everyone here at RAN. Not only for helping us to cover the costs of sustainably-printing materials, doing research, and making education materials… thank you for inspiring us and reminding us that not only are we doing this work to protect forests and their inhabitants, but the health and well-being all of our world’s future generations.

We won’t let you down!

P.S. 321 students say: "Protect the Rainforest"

A spiritual encampment to protect a Bay Area sacred site is now in its 50th day. Local Native community members opposing a proposed development that would disturb the shellmounds, burial sites, and artifacts at Glen Cove have occupied the land to stop construction from going forward. There are many ways that you can help support the struggle to protect this sacred site.

Click image to find out how you can show your support.

Glen Cove is a sacred gathering place and burial ground that has been utilized by numerous Native American tribes since at least 1,500 BC. Today, Glen Cove continues to be spiritually important to local Native communities. It is located just south of Vallejo, California along the Carquinez Strait, a natural channel that connects the Sacramento River Delta to the San Francisco Bay. Glen Cove is known as Sogorea Te in Karkin Ohlone language.

Since 1988, the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD) and the City of Vallejo have been planning to turn Glen Cove into a “fully featured” public park. GVRD’s current Master Plan calls for the installation of a parking lot, restroom facility, picnic tables, and construction of additional trails, including a paved trail. It also calls for re-grading of large areas of the site, which involves digging that will further disturb burial sites and sacred objects. This planned grading includes “capping” known shellmound/burial areas with 12 inches of soil.

The local Native American community has been outspoken about these plans for the Glen Cove Sacred Site, and their message is unequivocal: “Do not further disturb and manipulate this sacred burial ground of our ancestors.” Spiritual leaders from Ohlone, Miwok, Pomo and other local tribes consider the proposed park development plans to be an offensive desecration of this area.

We recognize that our organization, Rainforest Action Network, is headquartered in San Francisco, which itself is on the traditional land of the Ohlone people. Of the over 400 Ohlone shellmound burial sites documented in the Bay Area in the early twentieth century, only a handful of these sacred shellmound sites remain relatively undisturbed today. Glen Cove in Vallejo, California is one of the last remaining sites.

U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples posted at Glen Cove

Earlier this year, the United States ratified the U.N. Document on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Articles 11 and 12 uphold many of the principles being physically protected by the encampment at Glen Cove. For instance:

Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains. (Article 12)

The Greater Vallejo Recreational District has a responsibility (both ethically and legally) not to ignore the Native community’s demands to stop the development. It is not too late to choose another way. GVRD decision-makers and the mayor of Vallejo could set an example for how to respectfully engage stakeholders and effectively utilize FPIC (Free, Prior, and Informed Consent) principles.

You can help.

Here is a request from members of the Native community working to protect Glen Cove:

“Please give us your support. Get your signature on our petitions, come to our gatherings and meet the descendants of this sacred place. And most importantly, get the word out. Talk to your neighbors, co- workers and friends about respecting sacred sites and the rights of Indigenous People. See our “How to Help” page to learn about more ways to lend support.”

If you’re in the Bay Area, you are invited to visit Glen Cove/Segora Te, and learn about the site and support the protection of sacred sites and human rights.

Rainforest Action Network stands in support of the spiritual encampment at Glen Cove/Segora Te. The local Native community should rightfully be the lead decision-makers who hold authority in matters related to their Sacred Burial Ground.

Check out the 2011 Earth Day Poster Contest winners.

All of the poster entries were wonderfully inspiring and heartfelt. We had a tough time choosing finalists because all of the entries were so fantastic. After our voting period, we are happy to announce the winners in each grade category. Winning entries will receive a prize of rainforest-safe books for their class. Thanks again to everyone who joined the contest this year, you are making a huge difference for rainforests by sharing your important ideas with the world!

Check out our slideshow of the finalists in each grade category!

And the winners are. . .

K-2 Winning Poster by Class 1-5, Park View Elementary

3-4 Winning Poster by Shea P, Cedar Ridge

5-6 Winning Poster by Greyson B, Lee Academy

2010 Earth Day Poster Contest Winner

RAN’s annual kids’ Earth Day Poster Contest finalists have been determined, and we need your votes to help pick our winner!

We received so many amazing entries, ranging from precious to profound, but we had to narrow it down to 15 finalists.

You can view and vote on your favorite poster right now at ran.org/posters.

Students in Kindergarden to 6th grade from around the world poured their heart and soul into creating these fantastic Earth Day posters, visual entreaties asking us all to protect rainforests. Vote today!

Your chance to vote ends April 28th. Winners will be announced May 2nd.

Thanks so much to all our Rainforest Heroes out there. We need you!

Check out the trailer, it’s gonna make you feel great…promise.

Not only is this documentary both uplifting and entertaining, it also explains the serious dangers orangutans face through palm oil plantation expansion in a clear and simple way.

This behind-the-scenes footage is absolutely priceless, and the decades-long work of Dr. Galdikas is nothing short of inspirational…

Orangutan Foundation International and Rainforest Action Network are busy getting the word out about Born To Be Wild, premiering April 8th. Please share this post with all your friends and family who’d be charmed and inspired by Born To Be Wild in IMAX 3D. It’s gonna be a good one.

TAKE ACTION

• Grab some materials to bring to your local theaters that expose Cargill as a major cause of orangutan habitat loss in Borneo at http://www.ran.org/wild.
• Tell Cargill CEO Gregory Page to protect rainforests and orangutans by cleaning up his palm oil supply chain. Email him now!

In November 2010, Brimob was implicated in another killing that took place in Jambi associated with a pulp and paper plantation. Photo Courtesy of: CAPPA

The land grab crisis in Indonesia is getting worse — with tragic consequences.

On Tuesday, six unarmed villagers were shot while harvesting palm oil fruit on their own land.

Jakarta Globe’s Jan. 16 article reports the villagers had an ongoing conflict with Kresna Duta Agroindo, a palm oil subsidiary of Sinar Mas, when they were attacked by the notorious National Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Jambi province last Saturday.

In Indonesia there are constant complaints of corrupt, militia-like police brigades. One can’t help but wonder the extent to which land-hungry pulp & paper and palm oil corporations are willing to manipulate the situation in order to evict communities from their traditional lands and clear the way for corporate industrial expansion, all in the name of producing cheap commodities for global markets.

What can we do here in the US to counter these terrible human rights violations?

A decent start is for US companies to only do business with suppliers that can provide products free of social and environmental controversy. Our allies on the ground in Indonesia are petitioning the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to (once again) attempt to revoke the membership of Sinar Mas — perhaps Indonesia’s leading land grabber and forest destroyer.

Click this image to tell Cargill to stop sourcing Palm Oil from Sinar Mas!

It’s disappointing that Sinar Mas has only received a tacit “probation” status in the RSPO while doing bad business as usual.

But regardless of the (in)action of the RSPO, this serious problem is something US companies should not be exacerbating. No company should be sourcing palm oil from such unethical suppliers, period. Cargill Incorporated, as the #1 importer of palm oil to the US, must stop importing palm oil tainted with the blood of innocent people.

This isn’t the first time the palm oil and pulp & paper industries are associated with the deaths of Indonesian civilians.

But shouldn’t it be the last?

Tell Cargill CEO Greg Page to stop allowing his company to support human rights abuses in Indonesia.

Not only was it one of the largest banners we have ever made, but now Twin Cities Indymedia says it was amongst the top 10 most-viewed articles on their site in 2010!

The recent article, “Resistance in Review,” has the scoop.

Check out the campaign launch video, “Does Your Breakfast Cause Rainforest Destruction?”

What an honor to stand with all of the strong change-makers listed in Twin Cities Indymedia’s Resistance in Review. Thanks to everyone holding it down in Minnesota!

Activists "Guide" Holiday Shoppers Away From Rainforest Destruction

Attention Shoppers: Until your local book retailer adopts a comprehensive set of standards for the books they carry, it is up to YOU to make sure that the books you buy aren’t made of destroyed rainforests! Rainforest Action Network has made a Rainforest-Safe Reading List and is working to influence consumer choice where it really packs a punch: at the point of sale.

At the Barnes & Noble flagship store in New York’s Union Square, activists promoted consumers’ right to know (and choose) by distributing over one thousand Rainforest-Safe Kids Book Guides to holiday shoppers. Others stealthily made the guides available in the bookstore café and tucked guides into hundreds of kids books.

The pocket-sized guide allows holiday shoppers to remove rainforest destruction from their shopping lists, at least at the bookstore, by ranking book publishers according to their paper policies. It was well-received by holiday shoppers who were absolutely shocked to hear that some books at Barnes & Noble may be printed on paper linked to destroyed rainforests.

The rise of e-books has provoked a certain nostalgia for traditional books, in particular those all-time favorite kids books we all know and love. Shoppers still want printed books, but they certainly don’t want books printed on the last habitats of endangered Sumatran tigers. Today’s Roar at the Store action (one of 150 Roar at the Store actions happening nationally this week) helped to provide the information that amplifies such a logical demand.

Book publishers need to quickly adopt and follow through with respectable paper policies for their books. Many publishers have, but companies like Disney Publishing and Harper Collins are going to disappoint a lot of holiday shoppers until they do.