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Invisible Giant
Kneen, Brewster
Publisher: Fernwood PublishingYear Published: 2002 Pages: 222pp Resource Type: Book Cx Number: CX8122 A far-reaching analysis of a global food company that now has 800 locations in over 60 countries and more than 50 lines of business. Abstract: This is a far reaching analysis of a global food company that now has 800 locations in over 60 countries and more than 50 lines of business. Cargill, the "Jolly Green Giant" does not only make profits from food production but also from money speculation and the futures market. Kneen shows how this international conglomerate has become a de facto agent of U.S. foreign policy. It enforces its economic power not by using invading forces but by sending "agents" who act as benevolent food suppliers to the hungry. He explains how they use vague promises of establishing a plant and the use of large amounts of public money to finance it. In his final chapter he argues that its weakness is a direct result of its strength-it has an unquenchable appetite for growth which will eventually lead to local resistance. To illustrate his point he draws on analogies from colonial occupires and their fate. To further illustrate this he docments the growing small scale diversified agriculture and local self-help develpment food systems. Table of Contents: Preface 1. Mutant Giants 2. Cargill Inc – The Numbers 3. Origins, Organization and Ownership 4. Policy Advocacy and Capitalist Subsidies 5. Creatures: Feeding and Processing 6. Cotton, Peanuts & Malting 7. Processing: Oilseeds, Soybeans, Corn & Wheat 8. Invisible Commodities 9. E-commerce 10. Coming and Going: Transport and Storage 11. A Typical Story– Canada, and Mexico 12. Fertilizer 13. The West Coast 14. Rivers of Soy - South America 15. Juice 16. The ‘Far East’ 17. Seeds 18. Salt 19. Only Cargill’s Future? Endnotes References Index Subject Headings |