Nestle, the world’s largest food and beverage company, has become the latest major multinational to cancel their palm oil contract with Sinar Mas, one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates and a leading producer of both palm oil and wood pulp for paper and packaging products.

A string of reports have shown that Sinar Mas is actively clear cutting Indonesia’s forests, home to the endangered Orangutan, Sumatran Tiger, and Elephant, in violation of Indonesian law. Not only is Sinar Mas’ palm oil dirty and dangerous, it is also illegal.

Sinar Mas is clearing rainforests in Borneo without proper government approval

With the world’s major buyers of palm oil, including Uniliver, Kraft, Sainsbury and now Nestle cutting  ties with Sinar Mas, Cargill’s support of Sinar Mas’ rainforest destruction and  chain of illegalities has become all the more unacceptable.

More »

This past Sunday, a crowd of leprechauns entered several Twin Cities grocery stores and froze with shock, horrified to discover that beloved Lucky Charms cereals are contributing to rainforest destruction! These 17 leprechauns were so shocked in fact, they stayed frozen for 3 minutes as grocery store shoppers read their pamphlets and green cloth patches describing General Mills’ tragic contribution to rainforest destruction due to the company’s sourcing of socially and environmentally destructive palm oil.

This flash mob culminated a Palm Oil Week of Action in which over 300 groups from around the country took action in their communities to raise awareness of the need for General Mills to stop using palm oil tainted with rainforest destruction.

While grocery store managers were not pleased to see their customer’s shopping experience altered in any way, the beauty of this flash mob was in its message: “Demand responsible products!” Leprechauns don’t want to lose Lucky Charms (or Cheerios or Wheaties for that matter) any more than kids around the world, but we all want to be able to purchase products that are as healthy for our planet as they are for our families. The purpose of this fun and fresh leprechaun flash mob was not to tell people what to buy or not buy, but rather to raise consumer awareness and help amplify the demand to General Mills for socially and environmentally responsible palm oil. And customers in these grocery stores LOVED it.

After freezing for three minutes, flute music began to play and the leprechauns did a jig as they shuffled out of the store and into the next grocery just to do it all over again!

Twin Cities Daily Planet wrote up a great article and video of this fun and feisty action.

General Mills can’t forever ignore the roar of leprechauns, valentines from kids, phone calls from angry shoppers around the country who want Cheerios that are really cheery, and giant yellow banners on the snowy lawn of their corporate headquarters! Soon they will have to step up and deal with the pink elephant in their office. General Mills: STOP destroying rainforests. The sooner the better, for all of us.

Brighter Planet has just come out with a report that examines the climate impact of multiple factors along the entire supply chain of producing, transporting, packaging, preparing and discarding our food. The authors find that “In all, food represents 21% of the typical American’s total annual carbon footprint of 28.6 tons CO2e. Of course, that’s just the average – your personal foodprint depends on how much and what kinds of food you eat, where and how that food is produced, how it’s prepared, and what you do with the leftovers.”

Overall, the report is impressively broad in scope. Unfortunately, it neglects to examine the climate impact of deforestation for food production. I wonder how that would add to the carbon footprint of the average American diet – quite a bit, I’d expect!

A Cargill Oil Palm Plantation - Photo Greenpeace PNG

Still, the authors’ recommendations for reducing your carbon “foodprint” are sound – and they would also contribute to reducing deforestation for food production:
• Eat fewer animals and more plants
• Buy unprocessed foods with less packaging
• Grow and harvest your own food
• Minimize car trips to restaurants and stores
• Cook at home more and eat out less
• Cook with efficient appliances and techniques
• Compost, recycle, and relish leftovers

Isn’t it nice that the same steps that are good for our health and our budget will also help the planet?

Cargill Inc., the world’s largest agribusiness company, has announced the sale of their palm oil plantations in the remote tropical nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Cargill owns mills and plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia, and until today, PNG, and trades palm oil globally produced by at least 25 additional palm oil producers in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Cargill’s oil palm operations in PNG destroyed rainforests – Photo by Greenpeace PNG

Just three months ago RAN released a case study, based on original field research carried out by RAN and the International Accountability Project, on Cargill’s palm oil operations in PNG.  Commodity Colonialism reports that serious environmental and social issues threaten the sustainability of Cargill’s plantations there, with a special focus on the dangers of converting once independent and self sufficient Papuan farmers into indebted laborers through Cargill’s use of share cropping contracts.

After five years of operations in PNG, Cargill is turning their palm oil plantations over to New Britain Palm Oil, along with a range of unfilled commitments to the people and government of PNG. More »

On Monday, February 15, a dozen activists and several kids with Rainforest Action Network’s rockin’ Twin Cities chapter visited General Mills’ Golden Valley Headquarters with a very special Valentine’s Day delivery!

General Mills buys palm oil from Cargill Incorporated, the largest importer of palm oil in the United States. Kids and youth from around the country made over 100 valentines for General Mills reminding the cereal giant to have some LOVE for the world’s rainforests and stop doing business with Cargill, one of the world’s worst drivers of deforestation and displacement of Indigenous peoples in Indonesia.

Kids want to enjoy General Mills cereals like Cheerios and Lucky Charms without killing rainforests. They shouldn’t have to choose.

While General Mills did their best to ‘Betty Crocker’ the situation with cupcakes, juice, and their own schmoozer, RAN-Twin Cities chapter members weren’t fooled. General Mills claims they are doing everything right, but we know that’s not the case. For more info, check out our posts about rainforest destruction caused by Cargill, General Mills’ palm oil supplier. A spokesperson was present to go over General Mills stance on palm oil, but our chapter stayed true to the sentiments expressed in the Valentines we delivered from kids around the country: “General Mills: Break Your Contract with Cargill, Not Our ♥’s!”

Watch our quick new commercial about General Mills’ role in rainforest destruction and join the call-in to General Mills today! Join thousands of other activists and make the call now.

Way to go Twin Cities!

In the last couple of weeks a slew of articles have come out announcing last year’s earnings for some of our favorite CEO’s.

• JP Morgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon received a bonus of over $16 million ;
• General Mills Inc. chairman and CEO Ken Powell received $13.4 million in compensation, up 105 percent from $6.5 million in fiscal 2008;
• and, Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) CEO Gord Nixon was paid C$10.4 million in 2009

From investments in mountaintop removal coal mining and coal-fired powerplants if you’re Chase’s Jamie Dimon and financing of the horrific Alberta tar sands if you’re RBC’s Gord Nixon to supporting Indonesia’s rampant rainforest destruction for palm oil if you’re General Mill’s Ken Powell, profiting from environmental destruction is alive and well.

While it is no surprise that big businesses and big banks are raking in billions even as the unemployment rate hangs around 10%, I can’t help but be a touched shocked at the flagrant arrogance of these CEOs. Even as many of us dream of a new set of values and a new model for our economy and our society, business success is still measured by the old paradigm of continuous growth and maximized return on investment. You grow and you get rich or you die.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. More »

In April 2008, I participated in an international fact-finding team that traveled throughout the Malaysian state of Sarawak to document reports that Indigenous communities were being systematically deprived of their land and other basic human rights through collusion between the state government and oil palm companies. Sadly, this practice has not stopped despite more than two years of efforts by Indigenous advocates and supporting groups like RAN.

Yesterday, I learned that the state Land and Survey Department demolished 25 homes in Sebauh, near the city of Bintulu (on Malaysian Borneo). The state claims that the homes were illegally built on state land, but the department moved forward with the destruction despite the fact that the community’s land rights claim is still pending in the courts. (Sarawak’s legal system is bogged down with such cases, and they drag on for years. Our fact-finding team found multiple instances where homes or crops were demolished despite on-going legal disputes.)

The now homeless community members report that state officials intentionally destroyed all of their possessions during the demolition. In response, about a hundred community members have set up a blockade to prevent the rest of their homes from being bulldozed.

We’ll continue to monitor this situation and let you know what you can do to help. In the meantime, this is another reminder that we need to make sure that any palm oil that goes into the products we buy is produced in a manner that respects both the environment and human rights. Go to TheProblemWithPalmOil.org to take action and learn more.

Thanks for taking action after we alerted you that General Mills products contain rainforest destruction. Nearly 8,000 of you took action by sending a letter to General Mills about your concerns about palm oil containing rainforest destruction in trusted brands such as Pillsbury, Betty Crocker and Hamburger Helper. Your letters, in combination with our massive banner unfurled on the lawn of their corporate headquarters, got General Mills’ and local media attention.

Did you get the response from General Mills? Are you thinking, “Gee, it seems like General Mills is doing all the right things already. Why is RAN picking on them?”. Here’s my response:

First of all, I want to commend General Mills for responding right away to share their concerns about the role of palm oil in rainforest destruction, biodiversity and endangered species. I’m glad they clarified that regardless of the modest amount of palm oil and palm oil derivatives they use in their products, they have a responsibility to purchase with principles; they have engaged their suppliers, which are all members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO); and will only purchase from suppliers who meet RSPO principles and criteria. Great! While we knew this before we sent out our action alert and unfurled our banner, it’s always good to get clarification.

It is also reassuring that General Mills publicly supports a moratorium on palm oil expansion in tropical rainforests. Unfortunately, their palm oil supplier, Cargill, does not. In Cargill’s recently updated “Palm Oil Commitments”, Cargill commits to no expansion into high conservation value forests (HCVF) or peatlands and only expand on “degraded land”. As the largest importer of palm oil into the United States, Cargill should expand their commitment by supporting a moratorium on palm oil expansion in Southest Asia as other companies have already done. It is our hope that General Mills can convince Cargill to support a moratorium.

In order to ensure that the palm oil in General Mills’ products is not causing rainforest destruction, displacing communities and exacerbating climate change, General Mills needs to do more than engage their suppliers and trust that they are meeting RSPO principles and criteria. General Mills needs to pressure its suppliers to meet and exceed RSPO principles and criteria. Cargill is not doing that and until it does, General Mills should cancel its palm oil contract with Cargill or continue to be associated with rainforest destruction. To learn more about Cargill’s role in rainforest destruction, check out our case studies and videos.

As a trusted all-American brand with lots of recognition in corporate social responsibility, General Mills should encourage their suppliers to go beyond the RSPO. Settling for sustainable palm oil is not enough to protect the world’s remaining rainforests, forests communities and our climate. U.S. companies that use palm oil in their products, like General Mills, should demand socially and environmentally responsible palm oil. This is palm oil that is identity preserved (like organic), traceable and segregated. This is palm oil that is not grown on converted rainforests or peatlands, or where communities have not given their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). If companies cannot commit to socially and environmentally responsible palm oil, they shouldn’t be using it.

To learn more about what we’re calling socially and environmentally responsible palm oil, check out our reccommendations for market leaders and our model policy at www.theproblemwithpalmoil.org

Leila Salazar-Lopez
Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign Director

“Can you imagine sitting down to breakfast with your Cheerios and then reading this in the newspaper?”

Well, don’t choke, but you deserve to know that one of America’s most well known brands- General Mills- is destroying rainforests.

Now,  this company is going to be famous not only for Cheerios, Betty Crocker and Hamburger Helper, but also for their sizeable contribution to rainforest destruction! General Mills isn’t as wholesome as they look.

Fortunately, the Minneapolis/St. Paul area is full of incredible grassroots communities intertwining movements for local agriculture, social justice, and a safe climate. There are so many inspiring people walking their talk, and ready to acknowledge and address how environmental and social distress to sneak into our responsibility chain via the food on our tables.

On Tuesday, Jan. 19, 42 activists unfurled a HUGE 30 x 70 foot banner reading: “WARNING: General Mills Destroys Rainforests” at the General Mills corporate headquarters. General Mills purchases the controversial palm oil from Cargill Incorporated. Cargill is sourcing palm oil from Indonesia where rainforests are being torn down and forest-dependant peoples are being ruthlessly kicked out of their homes all for an unsustainably-grown cash crop called palm oil. For the full story, visit www.theproblemwithpalmoil.org and see Rainforest Agribusiness campaigner Ashley’s blog about why we are zooming in on General Mills. Hey, you can sign the petition while you’re at it!

Activists here in the Twin Cities are thinking globally and acting locally in rapidly growing numbers. As our Twin Cities chapter grows and branches out, people from faith-based groups, food co-ops, political organizations, and art collectives are all stepping up to hold these local corporations accountable.

The result is incredible. General Mills has gotten the message loud and clear. And they know that  we aren’t going anywhere until they not only commit to getting dirty palm oil out of their supply chains, but until they follow through and do it.

Until then, we look forward to planting seeds of awareness across the country and watching people spring up to stop big agribusiness from disrespecting rainforests, family farmers, and the climate. The flowers of this work is in the connections, the friendships, and the collective power we are reclaiming person to person, company to company, and country to country, from Minneapolis to Kalimantan.

P.S. If you are based in/around the Twin Cities and want to join the local uproar, plug in to the RAN-Twin Cities chapter or Facebook group.

My alarm went off at 6:15am this morning and the excitement of butterflies in my stomach reminded me that the launch date had finally arrived! After four hours of sleep and months of preparations, I met up with 41 local Twin Cities community members concerned about palm oil’s contribution to tropical deforestation, global climate change, the rights of indigenous communities, and the survival of threatened species like the orangutan. Specifically in question: the corporate ethics of one of the most trusted American food giants based right here in Minneapolis, MN – General Mills.

Why is the maker of such powerful brands as Cheerios, Haagen Dazs, Progresso soups, Betty Crocker and Pillsbury – that cater mostly to parents and kids across the U.S. – stalling on taking action to protect our world’s forests increasingly threatened by big Agribusiness’ industrial palm oil plantations?  What will it take to get them to listen?

I know of one thing that got their attention- a massive, bright yellow 30 x 70 ft. banner getting unfurled in the snowy, wintery morning light at their Headquarters in Golden Valley, MN! At 11:11am 42 people inspired by the prospect of getting General Mills to wake up and be a leader in the food industry held the huge message: “Warning: General Mills Destroys Rainforests” up high in the air for General Mills executives watching from their desks above to see. And that they did!

General Mills: Take Action!

Our campaign launch was an effective way to inform General Mills that we don’t have any time to waste – we need them to take action now as a company with a unique ability to affect the palm oil marketplace, both by changing its own consumption habits and by publicly taking a stand against rainforest destruction from palm oil.

So why General Mills, you may be asking?

General Mills has a very close relationship with Wayzata based Cargill, Inc. and purchases all of their palm oil from them, among other commodities. Cargill is the most powerful agribusiness and commodity trading group in the world, and as the largest privately owned corporation in the U.S., it’s also among the most secretive companies on earth. It owns plantations in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, where it grows oil palm on freshly cleared rainforest land. It is also a major global trader of palm oil and the biggest importer of palm oil into the United States.

Over 100 of General Mills’ products in total contain palm oil. By purchasing from Cargill, General Mills is directly contributing to the destruction of Indonesian rainforests. We’re asking General Mills to stop buying palm oil from Cargill and we need your help – please take action by sending an email to General Mills CEO Ken Powell!

General Mills at a Crossroads

Be part of the solution: Join RAN in pressuring General Mills to become an advocate for change in the palm oil industry!

Check out Mongabay’s article highlighting our action!

For more information, visit theproblemwithpalmoil.org.