Pursuits
PepsiCo Promises Not to Buy Sugar Grown on Contested Land
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Five months ago, antipoverty group Oxfam called out some of the world’s largest food and beverage companies for buying sugar, palm oil, and soy from suppliers that kick people off their land to make way for plantations. On Tuesday, PepsiCo, one of the companies named by Oxfam, announced new rules for its suppliers (PDF) specifically prohibiting the practice.
In one example of a land grab from Oxfam (PDF), the Brazilian sugar refinery Usina Trapiche, a supplier to PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, removed 53 fishing families from their island home in a Sirinhaém River estuary in 2002 and relocated them to a town with electricity, water, sanitation, and schooling, but a higher cost of living.