Vote for ADM in the Corporate Hall of Shame Today! -Shame on ADM for its role in destroying tropical rainforests for soy and palm plantations; -Shame on ADM for displacing Indigenous and local communities from their traditional territories and/or small farms to expand their soy and palm plantations; -Shame on ADM for exacerbating climate change and the [...]

I’m not sure if it makes me really excited, or really sad, you all have registered over 400 palm oil filled products on www.TheProblemWithPalmOil.org! Mostly, it makes me really excited, because each and every one of those companies is going to get a letter from the Rainforest Agribusiness team, asking them to join our effort to [...]

Last week, we wrote to ADM, Bunge and Cargill, to call for an extension and expansion of the Amazon Soy Moratorium. Great news! The Soy Working Group (GTS), including U.S. agribusiness companies -ADM, Bunge and Cargill- and NGOs such as Greenpeace, just announced that the two year Amazon Soy Moratorium would be extended [...]

After spending 4 days at the “Encontro Xingu”, I had the opportunity to fly over the entire Xingu river basin beginning in Altamira, Para and ending in Canarana, Mato Grosso…soy and cattle country. Since I didn’t have time to travel the entire length of the Xingu, like the Heart of Brazil Expedition did in [...]

***NOTE: This is essentially a report on the historic gathering, from my perspective. I meant to post daily blogs, but internet access in Altamira was non-existent in the hotel I stayed in. Enjoy!*** Thousands of people gathered in Altamira, Para-Brazil last week for the “Encontro Xingu: Vivo Para Sempre” or “Xingu Encounter: Alive Forever” [...]

Bunge was clearly expecting us. When Judson Barros (director of the NGO FUNAGUS in Piauí, Brazil) and I entered the Sofitel and walked to the check-in for the shareholder meeting, they treated us like VIP’s that they were expecting. The three people at the table looked at our proxy letters and one mumbled, “Oh, yes, [...]

Ever heard of Corporate Watchdog Radio? It’s a weekly radio show and audio/video podcast on issues that you most likely care about (since you read the Understory). Last week the Business Ethics Network offered RAN a Commentaries spot on the Corporate Watchdog Radio show. I recorded a short piece on biofuels - a timely week [...]

ADM, Bunge, and Cargill can’t hide any more: www.TheProblemWithPalmOil.org just went live. There is no secret about what US Agribusiness companies are doing in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific: They are forcing communities off their land, destroying the last remaining habitat for endangered species like the orangutan, and burning the remaining forest stumps, [...]

It is not every day that we here at RAN get to announce the launch of a major new strategy… but today is one of those exciting days! The Rainforest Agribusiness campaign is launching a retail strategy, which will focus on holding ADM, Bunge, and Cargill responsible for the rainforest destruction that they are sneaking into [...]

I don’t necessarily expect to be welcomed into a closed, board-room meeting. Or, the secret negotiations of nation-states as they deliberate economic agreements, or arms deals. But, when a process like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) markets itself as a participatory, transparent, democratic, and multi-stakeholder process, my expectations are a little different. Yesterday, [...]