Cargill Inc: A Leader In Destruction
Owned by the Cargill-MacMillan family, Cargill Inc. is the largest privately owned company in America and the largest agri-business company in the world. Cargill has been linked to mass deforestation, ecosystem destruction, forced child labor, and the displacement of Indigenous Peoples. Cargill could restore land instead of clearing it if its family owners chose to, charting a path to a nature-positive food supply and forcing its competitors to do the same.
Family Secrets
You may have never heard of Cargill, but chances are that whatever you ate or drank today involved something from this agricultural giant. The company is responsible for growing, trading, and processing a staggering amount of the meat, cocoa, corn, beans, salt, grains, oil, eggs, and many other ingredients in the food we eat.
Deforestation
As the largest agricultural company in the world, Cargill presents both the greatest opportunity and the greatest obstacle to removing nature's destruction from the agricultural supply chain. Although Cargill has promised to end deforestation practices for products in its supply chain, they have not yet fulfilled those commitments.
Human Rights Abuses
Although Cargill has publicly committed to ethical practices and eliminating child labor in its operations, activists and human rights organizations argue that the company has not done enough to eliminate human rights abuses from its supply chain.
Promises to Keep
On November 27, 2023, Cargill announced a commitment to eliminate deforestation and land conversion in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay by 2025.This commitment by Cargill is potentially a huge and long-awaited step forward for the planet and the Indigenous communities who depend on these ecosystems. Unfortunately, given Cargill’s long track record of breaking previous commitments – it is hard not to be skeptical.
First hand stories of people harmed by Cargill
Beka Saw Munduruku
Beka’s visit to the company’s Minneapolis, Minnesota headquarters marks the first time an Indigenous leader from Brazil is taking Cargill to task on their home turf for its deforestation and human rights abuses it has pledged to end but nevertheless continue.
The Munduruku people of the Tapajós River basin are already routinely confronted with the destructive activities of Brazil’s soy trade. And despite Cargill’s numerous commitments to eliminate deforestation and human rights abuses from their supply chain, they are in the process of dramatically increasing infrastructure in high-risk areas of South America, including the territory of the Munduruku.
After traveling 4,000 miles to the family offices in Wayzata, MN, she was intercepted in the parking lot by security guards and denied access. Previously, the family refused to respond to requests to meet.
The Mensah Family
Members of the Mensah family—Doris, Cynthia, George, and Rebecca Mensah (not their real names)—work on a cocoa farm in Ghana that directly sources to Cargill. They regularly perform hazardous tasks, including handling pesticides, herbicides, and working with machetes. Together as a family, the four of them earned a total of $140 last year from selling cocoa to Cargill.
All of the work they consistently perform on the plantation are clear examples of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in clear violation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182.
The Nyarko Family
Rita, Grace, and Daniel Nyarko (not their real names) take their cocoa beans to a collection site adjacent to the farm where they all work—this collection site is owned and operated by Cargill. Between the two siblings and their mother, the family made a total of $260 dollars last year from selling cocoa to Cargill.
This letter was published in Minneapolis Star Tribune. View published ad here. Unfortunately, your company’s previous promises have gone up in flames. This time, make sure your company keeps its word. Leave a legacy of leadership, not broken promises. See the report at cargillkeepyourpromise.org
This letter was published in Minneapolis Star Tribune. View published ad here. If implemented, this policy would be a dramatic step towards making Cargill a leader in conservation rather than a leader in destruction. However, we ask you to understand that, given our experience with Cargill making and breaking promises, it’s hard not to be…
I have come to the United States to ask the Cargill-MacMillan family to stop the destruction of our land. My people are called the Munduruku, which means “the red ants.” We are 13,000 strong, divided into 160 communities. Life is simple here. We plant, we harvest, we create. We learn by watching our elders. This…
Since then, investigators have found more than 150 thousand acres of forest and savanna burned or cleared in the regions where Cargill operates, an area four times the size of your hometown of Minneapolis. And child labor remains endemic in regions of Africa that provide Cargill with cheap cocoa. Cargill has committed many times to…
You grew from a modest grain warehouse in 1865 to the largest agriculture company in the world. But today, your company’s practices threaten to tarnish that proud legacy. In 2001, Cargill publicly acknowledged the problem of forced child labor in the cocoa industry and committed to eliminating it and the other “worst forms” of child…
