Pepsi - the Drink of Destruction

We can win big for the rainforest. And we can win quickly.

The biggest threat to the rainforest right now: palm oil plantations are clear-cutting the rainforest so they can expand. And the world’s largest global snack food company could help end that with one piece of paper.  One little-bitty piece of paper, doesn't sound that expensive to me.

PepsiCo buys staggering amounts of conflict palm oil every week. Unlike other companies (like Kellogg’s and Mars), it's okay with buying oil that comes from rainforest destruction. If PepsiCo committed to buying responsible palm oil, it could help reshape the entire global supply chain for the better.

What is more the timing for putting pressure on PepsiCo is perfect. Major companies like Kellogg’s have just adopted new palm oil commitments. And a hot new TV show just shined the media spotlight squarely on PepsiCo.

We all have a stake in stopping the destruction of the rainforest. Deforestation in Southeast Asia has made Indonesia the third largest carbon emitter on the planet.  That's it, simply by cutting down the rain forest, Indonesia has hiked it's carbon emissions up that high - that's how important the rain forest is to the regulation of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

 The orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, and countless other endangered species are being pushed the brink of extinction. Meanwhile, the remaining forests of Indonesia are storing as much carbon dioxide as the entire earth emits in a year, meaning that allowing the destruction to continue could detonate a carbon bomb.  I don't know about you but choking to death on carbon dioxide does not sound like a good way to die.

However, victory for the rainforest is more than possible. Working together with partners like the Rainforest Action Network and Forest Heroes, consumers like you and me have already forced Kelloggs and others to change their ways, causing a huge shift in the global palm oil supply chain. And similar organised consumer pressure has dramatically slowed the rate of deforestation in Brazil.
PepsiCo is also under increased pressure right now. Just last Sunday, a new American TV show devoted the second of two episodes to palm oil -- and urged their viewers to call PepsiCo and demand action. It’s been flooded by consumer letters, emails, and online pressure ever since.

The palm oil industry can be brutal. Many workers are lured into plantations on false pretences, and have their passports and ID’s confiscated. Investigations have found workers being beaten by “enforcers”, locked in tiny barracks at night, and not allowed to leave for any reason. Many workers are forced to spray hazardous chemicals with no protection, and the web of contractors and sub-contractors allows the corporations responsible to avoid legal responsibility.  This is another instance of modern slavery!

Slavery in the modern world is an abomination that should have been left behind in the Victorian period, not carried on into the modern era!

However, that tangled supply chain that covers up legal responsibility can be used to our advantage. Many palm companies are bulldozing the rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia for more plantations. Many snack food companies, including PepsiCo, eventually buy that oil. In between, however, there are only a few main distributors -- the 6 gigantic middlemen of the palm oil industry. Those distributors are the keys to success.

When SumOfUs members called out Kellogg’s and others, those companies put pressure on their suppliers, the palm oil distributors. In response, Wilmar International, the world's largest palm oil trader with a 45% share of the industry, is now in the process of switching to conflict-free palm oil.
Now we need to pressure the remaining 5 main distributors to follow suit (especially Cargill Inc.) -- and PepsiCo is a key customer for a number of them. If PepsiCo commits to buying conflict-free palm oil, then those distributors will have to follow suit -- or lose the business of the world’s largest international snack company.

That is the beauty of consumer pressure.  Without war, without violence, without lifting a finger, we can force these industries to clean up their act - by doing the exact opposite of lifting a finger.  If we refuse to buy from these blood tainted companies they have no choice but to cede to our wishes or perish.  If you want to join the stand against the destruction of our world here's the link:

Sign here to tell PepsiCo: Ensure that your palm oil is conflict-free.

We already won with Kellogg's. Now we can win with PepsiCo as well.

The End of the NHS

Here's one that is going to affect the lives of everybody in Britain.

A new report by a former Health Minister recommends charging people to see their GP, charging people for overnight stays in hospital, or even charging everyone £10 a month for NHS services. This could be the end of a free NHS as we know it and will hit the poorest hardest but that is hardly any surprise is it?  Since when did Ministers and MP's actually give a fart about the poor.  Considering it has always been the work of charities that just about keeps the poors' heads above the water, I would say not ever.

What's more, Lord Warner wrote the report in conjunction with Reform -- a free market think tank that is funded by private health care companies, which, guess what, are the exact same companies who are set to benefit from this proposal.  Is it me or does this stink of a set up?

The Government has spent billions of pounds on "reorganising" the NHS in the last few years, and now it is looking for more ways to raise cash -- don’t let it use this excuse to further privatise the NHS by the back door.

In the year before the General Election, the Government is paying close attention to public opinion. It’s the ideal time to send a strong message to the Government that we won’t allow it to privatise the NHS.  What is more Doctors and NHS staff are against the idea. Dr Ian Wilson, Chair of the British Medical Association, called it "an NHS tax" which "puts us on the slippery slope towards the end of an NHS that needs to be, and should be, free at the point of use".

The Department of Health says it opposes charging patients, but acknowledges that there is "more pressure on the NHS" due to an ageing population. We need to make sure this policy doesn’t creep in as a cost saving measure, stopping the poorest people in our society getting the health care they need. 

Tell the Government to reject the proposals and keep the NHS free for everyone who needs it!

Together, the SumOfUs community has successfully taken action around the NHS before. We've already won a six month delay in NHS England's plans to sell our private medical data, and we're working to stop the problematic parts of the plan for good. Let's keep fighting for a free and excellent NHS.

Personally, I'd say that since it is a MP that has thought up this idea then MP's should foot the bill for the NHS.  MPs are people who apparently want to run this country, despite the fact that for the greater majority of them, their only experience of society was at exclusive colleges such as Eton, so surely they should have to pay for the privilege of ruling others.  Perhaps it we made being an MP expensive then we'd get MPs who have a true vocation for the job, instead of a money grabbing bunch who seem to think that ruling a country is a get-rich-quick scheme (thinking of our current Prime Minister who's wife bought a £600 pound dress in the middle of a recession).

Slavery in the Modern World

As a writer of science fiction I have been called into question as to why I include in my novel a theme of slavery and the fight against it.  The point of view many have spoken has been 'slavery doesn't exist any more, why would it exist again in the future?'  Well I hate to break it to you but slavery does still exist, it just hides under another name. 

Recent reports show that workers from Nepal and India are dying in record numbers on Qatari construction sites since the country won its World Cup bid. FIFA pledged to do more to improve the "unacceptable" situation for World Cup workers, but guess what isn't happening.  The Qatari construction managers seem to believe that if you pay someone a pittance for a wage then it doesn't count as slavery and that health and safety doesn't have to exist because 'there's plenty more where that came from'.

What is that if not slavery?  What is slavery saving being keep in your 'job' by fear and oppression?

FIFA can make a difference in Qatar by using its influence to demand better standards for workers. It can call on Qatar to allow workers the freedom to change jobs or leave the country without their employer's permission and require all football World Cup host countries to comply with fundamental labour rights.

It is no secret as to how sporting events can be used to improve the lives of those that have no voices.  Earlier this year, the voice of the masses carried the day and prevented two wild orcas being abused for the appreciation of the crowd at the Russian Winter Games.  It has been done once before and it can be done again.

What is more the FIFA isn't the only big company that pretends it doesn't have a human rights problem.

Kellogg’s is silent about the deplorable conditions a new report from Oxfam alleges its workers and farm workers are facing. The company claims to be unaware of human rights abuses in its supply chain, and it is unclear as to the full extent to which workers are being abused. That's why the workers of Kellogg's farms need us to demand a full review.

Shareholders are stepping up and pressuring Kellogg’s to report human rights abuses in its production processes. The annual shareholder meeting is in just 3 weeks, and if we act now we can pressure Kellogg’s to investigate and issue a full report on human rights abuses.

Shareholders have the power to hold corporations accountable through their investments, savings and pensions -- we have the power to check corporate power as consumers. If we come together, we are unstoppable because, once again it is the power to vote with our feet.  If we threat to stop buying Kellogg's products if they do not clean up their act then they will have no choice but to bow before the mounting pressure.

At one of its factories in Tennessee, workers were locked out of their own jobs as the union resisted Kellogg’s push to reduce wages and cuts benefits. Likewise, Kellogg’s has been prioritising profits over people by moving its factories from Australia to Thailand, where wages are lower and unionisation is equally scarce.

Kellogg’s claims it is not aware of workers’ rights violations in its supply chain, but it's not looking either. If it is not forced to look it isn't going to see the damage it is doing to human lives.  The value of profit over human life is another mark of slavery.

Shareholders are speaking out against these practises -- they are worried about their long-term investments as the public learns about Kellogg’s human rights record. We can help make their case stronger by showing Kellogg’s its own customers and potential customers are appalled that it is ignoring the problem.

Kellogg’s has answered to pressure in the past. When both SumOfUs members and shareholders demanded action, Kellogg's committing to sourcing palm oil that was deforestation and exploitation free -- a landmark commitment in the industry. The consumer have won before, and we can win again.

If either of these case studies makes your blood boil, I've included the links to the petition site.

Sign the petition to ask Kellogg’s to conduct a full review of human rights abuses in its supply chain!

Call on the President of FIFA to ensure World Cup-related events are slavery-free.
Because I would say that it is a failure of the human family to continue to abuse our brothers and sisters.

Pebble Mine - A Mine of Pollution

This one is a good one, in that one company has already realised the wrongness of this proposal and has pulled out.

The proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska will destroy the largest sockeye salmon run in the world.  If it is built, the Pebble Mine would be the world’s largest open-pit copper and gold mine.  The proposed Pebble Mine threatens to pollute miles of pristine streams and wetlands in and around Bristol Bay, the home of 40 million sockeye salmon.

The Bay supplies nearly 50 percent of the world’s commercial sockeye, generates $480 million in annual revenue, and supports 14,000 jobs a year.  I don't know about you but living in a job strapped country that sounds like a hell of a lot of jobs to lose to me.  I suppose that the Pebble Mine proposers are saying 'well you can come and work in our mine' but, how's this for a news flash, some people don't want jobs that support the destruction of their environment.  For the people of Bristol Bay it is  vital that this mine is stop - for the sake of the wild salmon, and for Alaskans who depend on local salmon to survive.

Rio Tinto owns a huge share of Northern Dynasty Minerals, the company that will operate Pebble Mine if the US government approves it. But there’s some good news - one company has already dropped out, and Rio Tinto may be reconsidering its holdings in Northern Dynasty.

Another mining giant, Anglo American, dropped its stake in Pebble Mine last year after originally investing $541 million in the project. We think that Rio Tinto is seriously considering pulling its shares and support from Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Mine. If Rio Tinto drops its support, the project will likely die. These companies know that groups working on the ground will fight to the end to protect Bristol Bay.

In two weeks, Alaskan native leaders are attending Rio Tinto’s annual shareholder meeting in London, and we have asked them to bring the voices of hundreds of thousands of SumOfUs members with them.   Already, over 130,000 SumOfUs.org supporters have called on Northern Dynasty to drop the mine. It hasn’t acted, but if Rio Tinto dumps its shares in Northern Dynasty, word from the industry is that the Pebble Mine will be as good as dead.

If you'd like to add your name to the petition then you can use the link below.
Tell Rio Tinto to pull out of the mine that will destroy the largest wild sockeye salmon run in the world.

Some people might say 'why are you getting so opinionated' to which I have to reply that, in my opinion, 'we messed up the world so the onus is on us to put it right'.

Gender Discrimination

In support of the lad I read about in the Independent the other day.  Apparently he was doing fairly well at school until his class mates saw his lunchbox.  Since then he has been suffering routine discrimination and humiliation.  The reason for this - his lunchbox is a My Little Pony lunch box and apparently My Little Pony is only for 'sissys'.

What is worse, as far as I am concerned, is when he tried to enlist the help of the teachers to combat the bullying he was told to change his lunch box.  Instead of trying to deal with the root cause of the bullying, the teachers' answer is to take the easy route of forcing a child into a mould he does not wish to be in.

I was under the impression that school was about being enable to find your strengths and abilities as well as being taught to value yourself and others for who they are, not for the stereotype that society has forced them into.

I'm a girl and I was never that interested in My Little Pony.  Neither was my sister.  Indeed my sister was more into Star Wars, normally thought of as a 'boys' interest.  And before anyone says it, my sister has a long term boyfriend to whom she is engaged.

If equality between the genders means that girls are allowed to be interested in things like Star Wars and Beyblade, which where put on the market for boys, then, to be truly equal, boys must be allowed to be interested in things such as My Little Pony.

And as for the accusation that boys that are interested in My Little Pony are 'sissys', I can think of no better reply than the poem I saw on the wall of a nursery group some years ago:

"You say that you don't like your son playing with dolls

You don't want him playing in such as 'sissy' way,

But that doll is teaching him how to hold a baby,

He'll be a father, one of these days!"

Greenwash - It's Not a Good Thing

It seems that even the companies that pressure groups think they can relie on can be tempted to do the dirty and whore themselves out for money.  Unilever is supporting a dirty industry attempt to continue the destruction of Southeast Asia's rainforests.  If it gets its way, orangutans could keep dying in the name of "sustainable" palm oil.

 

The consumer giant is attempting to ignore scientists' work and rewrite the rules on what counts as forest that should be spared from destruction, backed by the worst palm oil producers. It's a direct challenge to the strong scientific standards that groups from SumOfUs to Kellogg's to Mars have aligned behind. If we don't stop it, this could amount to a license for deforestation in the name of conservation, and undermine the huge progress we've made to save the orangutans.

 

Unilever is the world's largest palm oil user, and it's done the right thing in the past to support rainforest protection. It can do the right thing again, and we know that it's sensitive to consumer pressure.  Right now Unilever thinks it can push this greenwash behind closed doors. But if we can put this into the public light, it won't be worth the risk for Unilever to continue.

 

It doesn't have to be this way. We’ve made tremendous progress in getting big palm oil companies and a dozen of the world’s biggest consumer companies, including giants like Kellogg and Mars, to commit to end deforestation in their supply chains. Every week, more companies are joining up and pledging to do the right thing. Up until now, even Unilever has played a key role in promoting strict criteria for responsible palm oil production.

 

Crucial to the rainforests' protection is the scientific work that's been done to define what counts as a forest that should be spared from the bulldozers when companies go deforestation free. Specifically, companies have pledged to protect "High Conservation Value" or "High Carbon Stock" forest - based on a common understanding of what this means. The combined pressure from groups like SumOfUs and other NGOs has worked. Companies from Kellogg's to Mars to Wilmar - the world's largest palm oil trader - have accepted this common, strict approach and definition to ensure deforestation-free palm oil.

 

But now Unilever is participating in an industry attempt to redefine what counts as "High Carbon Stock" forest. Only the worst industry players are participating actively in this greenwash - companies like IOI and Cargill. If they get their way, companies could keep pushing bulldozers into some of the world's most important rainforests even while claiming to be deforestation free. Even worse, they are refusing to stop any deforestation until the "study" is complete. And now Unilever is joining them.

 

It's clear that industry will use this exercise to loosen the definition what forest they will spare from the bulldozers. If they do, it could open the door for continued destruction for what they want to call "sustainable" palm oil. It's a desperate attempt to continue business as usual and avoid growing consumer demands for deforestation-free palm oil.

 

Unilever doesn't have to be a part of this. We need to show Unilever that we won't tolerate this greenwash.  The company has bowed to consumer pressure before so we can make it do so again.  Together people have power.

 

Tell Unilever not to greenwash rainforest destruction and withdraw from the "study" now.

Retailers Against Corporations

This could be huge: a global retailer might be about to pull bee-killing pesticides from its shelves. If others join, this could be a decisive victory for the bees.

 

Bees are dying off in their millions around the world, including 37 million (!) on a single North American farm last season. After years of research, scientists finally know the cause. "Neonics" -- deadly pesticides produced by Bayer and other chemical giants. But while the bees are dying, corporations around the world are still selling these bee-killing pesticides.

 

That's why a global retailer breaking ranks could be a game changer. If they stop carrying the pesticides, it could start a snowball effect and stop bee-killing pesticides for good. But we know the big corporations that profit from these deadly pesticides are fighting back. Bayer is already spending a pile of cash on a huge "bee care tour" designed to buy the trust of retailers and small businesses with false information.

 

We can't allow the pesticide industry to be the only voice in the room when retailers decide whether to stop selling bee-killers. Many of the largest companies are just weeks or months away from their annual shareholder meetings -- and we need to make sure they hear our message there. That's why we want to fund activist beekeepers who've been watching their bees die for years to take their message directly to the shareholders, and raise a storm outside the meetings too.

 

Only recently, the giant US retailers Home Deport and Lowe’s were found to be selling so-called ‘bee-friendly’ plants that were actually laced with neonics! It’s almost unbelievable. But as long as retailers like Home Depot in the US and Canada, or Bunnings in Australia won’t remove neonics from their shelves, then the world’s bee population is still at risk.

 

We know that consumer pressure on retailers works. Before Europe’s partial ban on neonics, there was a huge movement that pushed some of the biggest retailers on the continent to voluntarily remove neonics from their shelves. If we can make sure that other retailers in Canada, the US, Australia and elsewhere pledge to stop selling neonics then we can halt the sale of these deadly pesticides.

 

The voices of the beekeepers is powerful -- and that's why these companies and their shareholders need to hear from the beekeepers. Last year, after thousands of SumOfUs members chipped in, our activist beekeepers travelled to Chicago and took their message directly to independent garden store owners at the world's largest gardening convention -- singing up dozens to our campaign.

Can you chip in $50 to help us fund beekeepers to speak out and to push companies to remove bee-killing pesticides from their shelves?

The fight to save our bees has made some big steps. But Bayer and other pesticide giants aren’t taking this lying down. Now, we need to take the battle to those retailers that are still selling neonics. If we can stop the flow of cash, then we’re one step closer to protecting our bees.  Because bottom line that's the best way to stop these pesticides - don't buy them!