KFC trashing Amazon rainforest for chicken

Greenpeace volunteers unfurled a 3000-square-foot banner in a massive area of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest this morning with the words "KFC–Amazon Criminal"–in advance of Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC) Annual General Meeting in Louisville, KY, on May 19. Activists in two inflatable boats also protested against US commodities giant Cargill, at its illegal soy export facility in the heart of the Amazon, which supplies KFC with animal feed in Europe. They held up a banner saying "Cargill Out," as rainforest soy was being prepared for export. Both protests highlight the fact that KFC is fueling the destruction of the Amazon by selling cheap chicken fed on soy grown on deforested land, the activists contend. Recent Greenpeace investigations have traced the chain of rainforest destruction directly from the heart of the Amazon, via Cargill's facility, to KFC's European restaurants, which sell bucket-loads of cheap soy-fed chicken to millions of people every day. "Deforestation, slavery, use of toxic chemicals, land theft, illegal farming and the extinction of rare species are a recipe for disaster in the Amazon rainforest, but they are ingredients in KFC's quest for cheap animal feed," said Greenpeace International Forest Campaign Coordinator Gavin Edwards. "Fast-food companies like KFC must take Amazon deforestation off their menu before it is too late for the world's greatest rainforest." The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate and is in urgent need of protection. Since January 2003, nearly 27,000 square miles have been destroyed, equivalent to an area of rainforest the size of six soccer fields every minute. Soy, which is mainly grown to feed animals, is a leading cause of this destruction. A report last month in Nature magazine revealed that 40 percent of the Amazon will be lost by 2050 if current trends in agricultural expansion continue, threatening biodiversity and massively contributing to climate change. KFC is part of Yum! Brands, Inc., the world's largest restaurant chain which includes Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W and other fast food companies. Greenpeace recently wrote to Yum! Brands, Inc. regarding the destruction of the Amazon, but the company claimed its soy is grown in other parts of Brazil. Yet Greenpeace has traced its supply chain and found that some comes from facilities that use soy grown in the Amazon rainforest. Greenpeace is calling on KFC and Cargill to ensure that the animal feed they buy does not contribute to the destruction of the Amazon and that none of their soy products are genetically engineered.