{"id":179286,"date":"2021-02-15T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=179286"},"modified":"2021-02-14T05:17:41","modified_gmt":"2021-02-14T05:17:41","slug":"walmart-among-us-retail-giants-selling-beef-linked-to-amazon-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/02\/walmart-among-us-retail-giants-selling-beef-linked-to-amazon-destruction\/","title":{"rendered":"Walmart among US Retail Giants Selling Beef Linked to Amazon Destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Campaigners Call for Major Grocers to Cut Ties with Controversial Brazilian Meat Firm JBS<\/em><\/p>\n

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A cattle farm ravaged by fire in the Amazon. Credit: Bloomberg\/Getty.<\/p><\/div>\n

Walmart, Costco and Kroger are selling Brazilian beef products imported by JBS<\/em><\/strong> – the world\u2019s largest meat company – which we previously revealed has been embroiled in a string of deforestation allegations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

13 Feb 2021 – <\/em>Three of America\u2019s biggest grocery chains are selling Brazilian beef produced by a controversial meat company which has been linked to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, an investigation by the Bureau has revealed.<\/p>\n

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Food giants Walmart, Costco and Kroger \u2013 which together last year totalled sales worth more than half a trillion dollars \u2013 are selling Brazilian beef products imported by JBS, the world\u2019s largest meat company, which has been embroiled in a string of deforestation allegations in recent years.<\/p>\n

Research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the non-profit data-analysis agency C4ADS established that in recent years the JBS subsidiary Sampco Inc has imported into the US thousands of tonnes of Brazilian beef, destined for grocery chains and other food companies.<\/p>\n

The products include shredded and canned (corned) beef as well as frozen meat and steaks. In December researchers identified Sampco-branded shredded beef, produced in a JBS factory in S\u00e3o Paulo, being sold by both Walmart and Costco, and shipping data pinpoints JBS exports of Brazilian corned beef being supplied for sale in Kroger stores.<\/p>\n

Between July 2017 and November 2019 Sampco imported more than 5,000 consignments of Brazilian beef products totalling 7,884 tonnes, records obtained by C4ADS show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\" Meat for sale in Walmart <\/strong> Bloomberg\/Getty<\/strong> <\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Responding to these findings, campaigners called on the grocery chains to take swift action to rid supply chains of any links to deforestation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cCostco and Walmart claim to care about sustainability, yet continue to sign contracts with JBS,\u201d said Lucia von Reusner, senior campaign director of Mighty Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupermarkets need to go beyond their sustainability rhetoric by setting strict requirements for their suppliers banning deforestation, monitoring their suppliers for compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n

JBS beef cattle exports have been linked to about 300 sq km of deforestation every year. The company slaughters almost 35,000 cattle a day in Brazil. JBS denies it is responsible for any deforestation.<\/p>\n

The Bureau, working with Rep\u00f3rter Brasil and the Guardian, has in recent years exposed concerns over links between the company and deforestation in the Amazon \u2013 a key contributor to the growing climate crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Cattle in Brazil Greenpeace <\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Last year a major investigation<\/a> uncovered how the company\u2019s own trucks transported cattle from a \u201cdirty\u201d ranch fined for deforestation to a supposedly \u201cclean\u201d one that had supplied cattle to JBS abattoirs. The Bureau obtained livestock movement records revealing that thousands of cattle had been trucked on the same route.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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