‘Development In Reverse’: How Sugar Drives Land Conflicts Across The World

Driven by rising food and fuel prices and by growing consumer demand, investors have been rapidly expanding large-scale sugar operations.

Magda Fahsi
By Magda Fahsi

In 2006, in Cambodia, land clearance began in the Sre Ambel district for a sugar plantation of 18,057 hectares. Nearly 500 families from three villages lost land in the clearing operations. Community members protested, stating they had worked the land since at least 1999 and some of them since as far back as 1979.They say that they were not

Read Full Article

Coke, Pepsi Sugar Supplies Tied To Global Land Grabs, Conflict

A new report is seeking to draw attention to the murky supply lines behind the multinational food and beverage industry.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Cambodia Sugar Cane

WASHINGTON – Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and the broader food and soft-drink industry are failing to ensure that their global sugar supply lines are not facilitating “land grabs,” according to new research released this week. The global sugar industry is thought to be worth some $47 billion, with the food and drinks industry using about half of the 176

Read Full Article

Coca-Cola Tries To Keep Up With Growing Health Consciousness

Coca-Cola sales are plummeting in the wake of a growing movement away from sugary soft drinks in the U.S.

Trisha Marczak
By Trisha Marczak

Coca-Cola sales are plummeting in the wake of a growing movement away from sugary soft drinks in the U.S. and increasing concerns over the link between sugar, obesity and diabetes. Profits for the global soda giant dropped by 4 percent this quarter, compared to last year at this time. The overall drop was influenced by a total soda sale decline of

Read Full Article

US Government Bails Out Sugar Industry As Doctors Warn Of Obesity Epidemic

Government officials are raising eyebrows by stepping in to prop up the U.S. sugar industry.

Trisha Marczak
By Trisha Marczak

A month after the U.S. medical community officially labeled obesity a disease, government officials are raising eyebrows by stepping in to prop up the U.S. sugar industry, the same group that profits from the Twinkies and Ho Hos that slide so frequently and easily down American gullets. In June, the American Medical Association deemed obesity a

Read Full Article