Believe it or not, one of the biggest threats to rainforests right now is the expansion of soy and palm oil agriculture. Not only is the rapid growth of soy and palm oil plantations threatening the world’s remaining tropical forests, but it is also contributing to human rights abuses and global warming. Most of this is being led by U.S. corporations like ADM, Bunge and Cargill—the ABC’s of agriculture— that sell the soy and palm oil mostly for bio-fuels, cooking oil and food for livestock. Join us in asking these companies to change their practices. We will collect your letters and hand-deliver them all at once.

Our current letter-drive focuses on Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) because ADM is the only agribusiness company operating in Brazil that has not signed the Anti-Slavery Pact. This means that they buy soy from land-owners who don’t pay their workers at all. You probably thought that all slavery was abolished over 100 years ago, but unfortunately it still exists in many places around the world, like Brazil.

Below is more information about the problems with growing soy and palm oil in tropical forests, followed by a sample letter.

Deforestation

Soy and palm oil plantations are expanding into tropical forests in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and some of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, including the Amazon rainforest and the wooded savannah Cerrado of Brazil.

Contribution to Global Climate Change

The clear-cutting and burning of forests and peat bogs account for 25 percent of all heat-trapping gases emitted into the atmosphere. Indonesia is now the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) due to deforestation to make way for palm oil plantations.

Displacement of Indigenous People and Local Communities

In Indonesia and Brazil, Indigenous people are losing their rights to land to make way for palm oil and soy plantations, and are losing their access to clean drinking water because the soy plantations contaminate water sources with pesticides.

Unfair treatment of workers

Many soy and palm oil plantation workers face abuse, harsh working conditions and exposure to toxic pesticides. In Brazil, some soy farms supported by ADM use workers who are only paid what they borrowed from their boss to get to the farm, which means they don’t ever see any money, making them essentially modern-day slaves.

Turning Small Farms into Giant Plantations

Big soy and palm oil plantations displace small farmers. They are forced to abandon their farms, giving up their land and ability to grow food for their communities, in order to grow food and fuel crops for export.

Please send all letters to:

ADM letter drive
Rainforest Action Network
221 Pine St. Suite 500
San Francisco, CA 94104