KRAFT HEINZ STAY OUT OFF SCHOOL LUNCHES

USDA partners with Kraft Heinz Company for school lunches, 2023-04-14
(C) bubbleblabber.com

Starting in fall this year, the ready-to-eat packaged meals known as Lunchables will be on the menu for children in public schools. The manufacturer, Kraft Heinz Company, offers two styles of Lunchables - turkey and cheddar or extra cheesy pizza - that they claim to meet the federal nutritional guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National School Lunch Program. The school lunch program provides meals to nearly 30 million kids across the US. According to Kraft Heinz Company, the Lunchables for schools are specially formulated, incorporating more protein and whole grains to satisfy federal nutrition regulations, so that they can be part of the National School Lunch program. However, food experts doubt the nutritional value of the products. Kraft Heinz Company is the third-largest food and beverage company in North America and the fifth-largest in the world. Its product line includes Velveeta cheese, Kool-Aid drinks, Jell-O desert, Miracle Whip, and many convenience meals. Highly processed foods like Lunchables contain lots of additives, including coloring or flavoring agents, preservatives and sweeteners. One thing is clear: USDA should provide fresher and more natural local food to kids at school. At the same time, local food reduces shipping costs, carbon footprint and depends less on the global supply chain. The Lunchables deal has nothing to do with that. For a healthier food choice use the Buycott app to boycott Kraft Heinz Company and Mondelēz products!

UNILEVER PAY YOUR WINDFALL TAX

Unilever and Nestlé profit from food crisis, 2023-02-26
(C) gograph.com

The impacts of the food crisis - the rise in price of food, fuel, and fertilizer - are felt hardest in countries of the global South. People living there are paying two, three or even four times what they paid before the war in Ukraine. In the Horn of Africa, food and fuel have become almost completely unaffordable to those who are already suffering from the extreme drought, adding to the ongoing emergency. The countries most affected by the food crisis are also those most indebted, so a financial crisis adds to the current global struggles. The cost-of-living crisis is not bothering Unilever. Unilever's net profit in 2022 was over 8 billion euros, with prices rising by 11.3% on average. Unilever has raised prices faster than its biggest rivals P&G and Nestlé since the middle of 2021. The company will continue to raise prices in 2023 as well. For Nestlé net profits in 2022 were 9.5 billion euros, lower than in the year before. Food corporations claim that they raised prices to compensate inflation, but in reality they make huge profits. Tensions with retailers are growing. Kraft Heinz products were pulled from shelves in Tesco stores in 2022 as the British supermarket giant could not agree pricing terms. In September 2022, United Nations secretary general António Guterres called on developed economies "to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies. Those funds should be re-directed in two ways: to countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis, and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices." International food corporations profit from the rising prices of the food crisis. Until they don't pay windfall tax: use the Buycott app to boycott Unilever, Nestlé and Mondelēz products!

BYE BYE GREEN DEAL

EU Pesticide Reduction proposal under attack, 2022-12-22
(C) thefreethought.com

The EU Pesticide Reduction proposal is under attack. Lobbyists from pesticide industry group Croplife and industrial farming group Copa-Cogeca developed a strategy to delay the legislative proposal for pesticide reduction. On December 10 the EU agriculture ministers decided to ask for a new impact study on reducing pesticide use on food production in view of the war in Ukraine and the crisis of energy, fertilisers and food price. What sounds like a harmless additonal study could be a show-stopper for the pesticide reduction proposal. If negotiations are stopped during the assessment it might be too late to decide on the pesticide reduction law in this Commission and Parliament period. With this new study, Europe is practically undermining its own Green Deal and farm-to-fork strategy that aimed to achieve a sustainable agriculture and support climate goals. The decision is a slap in the face of the 1,1 million Europeans that signed for ambitious pesticide reduction in the Save Bees and Farmers initiative. It completely neglects the urgent letter signed by over 700 scientists and the calls from nature conservation and drinkng water organisations. The corporate-driven agricultural practices involves monoculture crops that are dependent on high chemical inputs. This creates a positive feedback loop where pest plants and insects become resistant to herbicides and pesticides, prompting companies to make other, more toxic chemicals. This ever-growing dependence on chemicals, which threatens natural ecosystems and human health, is highly profitable to companies like BAYER.

TAX MEAT TO FIGHT THE CLIMATE CRISIS

How poorer households could benefit from a meat tax, 2022-11-24
(C) reducetarian.org

JBS, the world's largest meat company, has increased its greenhouse gas emissions by a staggering 51% over the last five years and is now responsible for greater emissions than Italy's annual climate footprint. In an attempt to greenwash their public reputation, meat companies around the world are trying to follow the hype about plant-based proteins. JBS launched its first line of meat alternatives in 2020. America's largest poultry producer, Tyson Foods, released its own line of fully plant-based products to take advantage of this rapidly growing food segment. The time is ripe for a tax on meat! Taxes on meat and dairy are inevitable to decarbonise agriculture fast enough for limiting global heating to below 1.5°C. If implemented correctly, doesn't increase the pressure on poorer households or the farmers. The meat tax should be levied on all firms selling meat, including restaurants and supermarkets. Some of the revenue raised by the tax could be given directly to farmers, rewarding their work for stewarding the land and restoring peat bogs. At the same time that meat and dairy become more expensive, sustainable plant-based foods should become more affordable. Using revenue from a meat tax to cut value-added taxes on fruit, vegetables, and grains could encourage people to reduce their consumption of animal products. Cooking with vegetables is not difficult - have a go at our vegetarian recipes here!

NESTLE SPONSORS PUTIN'S WAR

Nestle still doing business in Russia, 2022-10-20
(C) avalaina@twitter.com

Several international food companies, including McDonald's, have pulled out of Russia since it invaded Ukraine in late February. On the other side there are companies like Nestlé, the owner of brands such Cheerios cereal, Gerber baby food and Nescafe coffee, that drop some of their Russian operations, but keep selling products in Russia. After accusations from the Ukrainian President that Nestlé's decision to continue business in Russia was out of "thirst for profit", the food giant vowed to suspend the sales. It would stop sales of many of its products in Russia, including those under the brands KitKat and Nesquik. However, Nestlé continues selling products that they consider "essentials", such as baby food and medical nutrition. In 2021, Nestlé gained 1.82 billion USD in Russian sales, which corresponds to 2% of the company's total revenue. The company has seven factories and 7,000 employees in Russia. As the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé has enormous power to influence policy and advance social good. It must be clear to Nestlé that continuing business operations in Russia provides economic support to the Russian government and fuels the war that is killing Ukrainians. Use the Buycott app to boycott Nestlé products!

MONDELEZ LIVE UP TO YOUR PROMISES

Mondelēz, drop dirty palm oil producers now!, 2022-09-21
(C) mumbrella.com.au

Mondelēz , one of the world's biggest snack food companies, is sourcing palm oil from bad players who have taken away Indigenous lands for their palm oil plantations but never delivered on the promised share in the billion-dollar palm oil business. Thousands of families in Indonesia were hoping to have a steady income and send their kids to school but instead were left with nothing. Indonesia produces millions of tons of palm oil each year, much of it destined for supermarket shelves in Europe and the U.S., where it goes into everything from frozen pizza to laundry detergent. When the palm oil industry started in Indonesia in the 1970s, Indigenous communities were supposed to benefit by getting a share of large-scale plantations. From 2007, it became a legal requirement for companies to share a fifth of any new plantation with communities. However, over the past decade, at least 155 palm oil companies have been accused of failing to provide a share. These include subsidiaries of almost every major palm oil conglomerate operating in Indonesia. Mondelēz has sourced palm oil from a plantation in Borneo that was temporarily shut down in February for failing to meet its legal obligations for more than a decade. It again shows that Mondelēz puts profits over people. Use the Buycott app to boycott Mondelēz products!

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