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Thread: How McDonald's is eating up the Amazon

  1. #1
    pat sommer's Avatar
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    Default How McDonald's is eating up the Amazon

    Anyone hear about the McDonalds/chicken suits/rainforest destruction demos? Let's hit 'em from all sides! I think I would look very smart in a chicken suit, personally...
    the only animal ingredient in my food is cat hair

  2. #2
    veggiewoman
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    Default Re: Supersize me

    yeah my friend told me a bit about the demos, was in the daily express I think he said.
    Not sure if it was the same demo but was it also the same day that people in chicken outfits chained themselves to chairs inside a Mcdonalds, in Manchester I think it was,not sure though.

  3. #3
    Kiran's Avatar
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    Default Re: Supersize me

    Some info on GreenPeace protests against Mc. Dick-onalds. Police in riot-gear had to arrest the chickens.

    GreenPeace Chickens protest against Mc. Donalds.

    News report from finance.pipex.com .

    Greenpeace in McDonald's rainforest protest
    Greenpeace activists chained themselves to chairs in McDonald's restaurants on Thursday to protest against the chain's alleged involvement in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

    Protesters dressed in chicken suits occupied McDonald's outlets in London and six other British cities at 7am.

    The environmental pressure group said it was demonstrating against the purchase of soya from the rainforest used to feed McDonald's chickens.

    Greenpeace spokesman Pat Venditti said rainforest was being cut down to build soya farms.

    "McDonald's is fuelling a trade that's trashing the Amazon," he said.

    "Rainforest is being illegally cleared to make way for soya farms to feed animals in Europe."

    The charity said it had investigated the soya trade and linked it to McDonald's.

    "Every time you buy a Chicken McNugget you could be taking a bite out of the Amazon," Mr Vendetti said.

    "McDonald's is super-sizing Amazon destruction."

    Greenpeace said "chickens" had chained themselves to stores in Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol and Southampton.

    A spokesman for McDonald's said the company would be investigating Greenpeace's allegations.

    "We are disappointed when people turn to vandalism to express their views, he said.

    "Worldwide, we take our supply chain and environmental responsibilities very seriously.

    "We can confirm that we will be investigating the claim made by Greenpeace in full and will review it for consistency in line with our existing policy not to source beef from recently deforested areas."

    Published: Thursday 06th April 2006
    Life is like a boomerang: What goes around comes around - "Karma"rocks!

  4. #4
    Hemlock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Supersize me

    "Worldwide, we take our supply chain and environmental responsibilities very seriously".

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard!!!!!!!! Lying toerags.
    Silent but deadly :p

  5. #5

    Default Re: Supersize me

    Ohhh please,,,,please...tell me someone got a picture of the police arresting the chickens!!!!!! I sense a great poster in the making there!

  6. #6
    gertvegan's Avatar
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    Default Re: How McDonald's is eating up the Amazon

    There are some pics here.

  7. #7
    gertvegan's Avatar
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    Default Re: How McDonald's is eating up the Amazon

    And an animation here.

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Supersize me

    "Worldwide, we take our supply chain and environmental responsibilities very seriously.
    Hahahaha! that gave me a good laugh. They only start to take things seriously when they are found out and it impacts on their profits.

    "We can confirm that we will be investigating the claim made by Greenpeace in full and will review it for consistency in line with our existing policy not to source beef from recently deforested areas."
    So does that mean they'll still source beef from areas that were deforested some time ago?

  9. #9
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: How McDonald's is eating up the Amazon

    It's their policy not to source beef from recently deforested areas? That's not so bad then, for a minute there I thought they were murdering cows from huge decimated areas of rainforest.

    "We are disappointed when people turn to vandalism to express their views, he said.
    How is chaining yourself to something vandalism? I suppose they could say it was damaging their business but couldn't they just put a positive spin on it like they do everything else and say that they had a captivated customer base.
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  10. #10
    Geoff
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    Default Re: How McDonald's is eating up the Amazon


  11. #11
    veggiewoman
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    Default Re: How McDonald's is eating up the Amazon

    while looking for some info about rainforests and fast food outlets andd meat eating in general to show people on another general message board, I came across this website and thought it may be of interest to some people here
    http://www.edstrong.blog-city.com/mc...rainforest.htm

  12. #12
    Free_Tibet
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    Default News: Greenpeace stops Amazon soya used to feed animals in Eu from entering Eu

    Greenpeace stops Amazon soya entering Europe (plus action)
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0605/S00001.htm

    Monday, 1 May 2006, 10:55 am
    Press Release: Greenpeace

    Greenpeace stops huge consignment of Amazon soya entering Europe
    Amsterdam, 29th April 2006 - Sixty Greenpeace activists (1) today prevented commodities giant Cargill from unloading a shipment of Amazon soya in Amsterdam port, to protest against the destruction of huge tracts of the Amazon rainforest to grow soya to feed farm animals in Europe.


    Several activists chained themselves to the conveyor belt and the suction pump Cargill uses to unload the soya, while others started to paint 'Forest Crime' on the company's silos.

    Greenpeace forests campaign co-ordinator, Gavin Edwards, said: "Cargill is trashing the Amazon so we can eat cheap meat. The scale of the destruction is incredible -approximately 19,000 hectares of the rainforest, almost the size of Amsterdam, would have to be destroyed to grow the amount of soya on this ship alone."

    Cargill, which leads the global trade in Amazon soya, (2) has illegally built a port in the heart of the Amazon rainforest to export its soya. Greenpeace has documented that the company has dealt with farms that have illegally grabbed and deforested areas of public and indigenous Amazon land. Some have even used slave labour. (3)

    "This crime stretches from Cargill's illegal operations in the Amazon rainforest to food companies, supermarkets and fast food chains across Europe. Cargill must stop destroying the Amazon to grow soya and must sever its links to slavery and human rights abuses."

    To read entire article - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0605/S00001.htm

    To find out how you can help stop this dangerous Amazon deforestation for the sake of animal exploitation.
    http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/saving-argentine-forests-from


    Call the Argentinian Embassy in your Australia

    http://www.greenpeace.org.ar/greenpe...uars/ciber.htm

    Argentinian Embassy (AU)

    John McEwen House
    Level 2, 7 National Circuit
    Barton, ACT 2600
    AUSTRALIA


    Postal Address
    P.O. Box 4835
    Kingston ACT 2604
    AUSTRALIA


    Tel.: (61 2) 6273 9111
    Fax: (61 2) 6273 0500


    Email: info@argentina.org.au



    Argentinian Consulate (Au)

    44 Market Street
    Level 20
    Sydney, NSW, Australia


    Postal address
    PO Box Q1613
    QVB Post Office NSW 1230
    AUSTRALIA


    Tel. (6 12) 9262-2933
    Fax (6 12) 9262-3998
    E-mail: conargen@ram.net.au


    Please thank Foreign Correspondent email: foreign2@your.abc.net.au
    for its piece - "Brazil - Nuns vs. Guns "
    which aired Tues 2nd May on ABC TV (AU)
    http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2006/s1621348.htm

    "Landless poor Brazilians moved from urban slums in the cities to the virgin territory, with the support of the federal government. But time and time again, wealthy and powerful ranchers have forced them off the land, often at gunpoint. "



  13. #13
    veggiewoman
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    Default Re: News: Greenpeace stops Amazon soya used to feed animals in Eu from entering Eu

    thanks for that Free Tibet,
    I also recenlty came across this website link which I found quite interesting to read :

    http://www.edstrong.blog-city.com/mc...rainforest.htm

    McDonalds Destroys the Amazon Rainforest


    THE 7,000km JOURNEY THAT LINKS AMAZON DESTRUCTION TO FAST FOOD
    A handful of the world's largest food companies and commodity traders, including McDonald's in the UK, are driving illegal and rapid destruction of the Amazon rainforest, according to a six-year investigation of the Brazilian soya bean industry.
    The report, published today, follows a 7,000km chain that starts with the clearing of virgin forest by farmers and leads directly to Chicken McNuggets being sold in British and European fast food restaurants.
    It also alleges that much of the soya animal feed arriving in the UK from Brazil is a product of "forest crime" and that McDonald's and British supermarkets have turned a blind eye to the destruction of the forest.
    The report, by Greenpeace investigators, details how the world's largest private company, the $70bn (£40bn) a year US agribusiness giant Cargill, has built a port and 13 soya storage works in the Amazon region.
    It provides farmers with seeds and agrochemicals to grow hundreds of thousands of tonnes of beans a year, which the company then exports to Liverpool and other European ports, mainly from Santarem, a city on the Amazon river.
    ANIMAL FEED
    From Liverpool, much of the high protein soya, which is used as animal feed, goes to Hereford-based Sun Valley, a wholly owned Cargill subsidiary that rears chickens.
    The company provides McDonald's, the largest fast food company in the world, with up to 50% of all the chicken it serves in Britain and across Europe.
    According to Greenpeace, public and indigenous land is being seized by farmers using bulldozers and even slave labour. Last year more than 25,000 sq kilometres (10,000 sq miles) of Amazon forest were felled, largely for soya farming.
    Much of the damage, says the report, has followed the entry of large multinational firms. Using satellite photography and government records, Greenpeace claims it can pinpoint where the destruction has taken place.
    For instance, only five years ago, much of the land around Santarem was heavily forested. But when Cargill announced plans to build two grain silos, a $20m terminal and its own port, it had a momentous impact.
    Satellite images show that in two years, deforestation rates doubled to 28,000 hectares (69,000 acres) a year, land prices rocketed and soya took off as farmers from all over Brazil arrived to take advantage of guaranteed markets.
    Much of that soya would have been trucked to Cargill's silos in Santarem, then shipped to feed Sun Valley-reared chickens that would be sold to McDonald's.
    The scale of Amazon deforestation due to soya expansion driven in part by demand from UK and other European firms is unprecedented, says Greenpeace.
    About 14,000 hectares in the Santarem/Belterra areas now produce 34,000 tonnes of soya a year. Further south, Mato Grosso has become Brazil's largest soya-producing state and the one with the greatest deforestation.
    FARMING FINANCE
    Cargill, which dominates much of world trade in commodities, makes no secret of actively aiding soya farmers in Amazon states.
    According to Greenpeace, its help is fuelling the development of large soya farms only made viable by the infrastructure the company has put in place.
    Others are driving the destruction of the forest, says the report, including Brazil's "soya king", Blairo Maggi, and other US grain companies.
    Mr Maggi, the governor of Mato Grosso, is the world's largest individual soya grower and has accessed $30m of World Bank loans to help finance soya growing on 2m hectares, much of it former rainforest.
    Forest destruction, says Greenpeace, has increased near all the soya facilities, and soya is the most powerful destroyer of the Amazon.
    "Most of the land in the Amazon is classed as 'empty' land and is unprotected and vulnerable. Soya farmers target these areas. They use loggers and bulldozers to clear and burn it in readiness of the crop."
    It adds: "What makes the new assault even more damaging is that farmers have access to cheap credit and a guaranteed market ... The rainforest is largely beyond the law so the risks are low. Such activities in effect constitute perverse financial subsidies for Europe's cheap meat."
    Europe is now a key market for Amazon soya, partly because it is mostly still GM-free. Sun Valley rears and processes about a million chickens a week, of which up to half go to McDonald's.
    According to Greenpeace conversations with the company, roughly 25% of the soya Sun Valley uses is Brazilian, and comes via Liverpool.
    Although only 5% of the soya grown in Brazil is from the Amazon, that small quantity, says Greenpeace, threatens to destroy the forest's ecosystems.
    The report follows attempts by campaigners in the 90s to link McDonald's to rainforest destruction. Those accusations were refuted in Britain's longest civil trial, dubbed Mclibel, which ended in 1997.
    Greenpeace is hoping to tap into the growing awareness over food sourcing. "[Large scale] soya farming leads to soil erosion, it requires massive chemical inputs to boost harvests.
    "As the soil becomes exhausted farmers move to other areas and repeat the vicious cycle of soil degradation and chemical pollution," says the report.
    Keith Kenny, senior director of quality assurance at McDonald's Europe, yesterday told the Guardian:
    "Worldwide, we take our supply chain and environmental responsibilities very seriously. We believe that the claim made by Greenpeace relates to the GM-free soya used in chicken feed.
    "We can confirm that we will be investigating this claim fully and will review it for consistency in line with our existing policy not to source beef from recently deforested areas.
    "McDonald's in the UK sources the majority of its food from the UK and Ireland. In 2005, over 17,000 British and Irish farmers supplied the company with ingredients."
    SUSTAINABLE SOYA
    Cargill and Sun Valley yesterday issued a joint response, saying they have always been transparent about their supply chain and were working with conservation groups and the industry to minimise environmental harm.
    "We are committed to sustainable development which creates income to support thriving communities and enables responsible environmental management over time," said a spokeswoman.
    "Our involvement in soya in Brazil is as a provider of export access for soybeans. From Santarem we export soya primarily sourced in Mato Grosso and from local pasture land around Santarem.
    "We are working directly with farmers who are our suppliers to minimise negative impacts of soya production, and to maximise the economic benefits for families and communities.
    "While we are satisfied that we apply our global standards for responsible environmental management in our operations, there are significant broader challenges. We alone cannot ensure sustainable soya development throughout Brazil."
    Meanwhile, the Xingu basin in the pristine heart of the forest is being turned into the regional waste drain, says the report.
    Home to 14 indigenous tribes, it is changing fast, says Ionaluka, a director of the Xingu Indigenous Land Association. "Every time I leave the reserve I do not recognise anything because the forest keeps disappearing," he says. John Vidal @ Guardian

    posted Friday, 7 April 2006
    tags: destruction soya fast food rainforest environment brazil

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