General Mills – owner of brands like Cheerios and Häagen-Dazs – needs to stand to attention. Limited understanding on water but no commitment to food producers, land rights or tackling climate change? No anti-biofuel advocacy? No time to waste.
We assessed publicly available information on the policies and commitments of the 'Big 10' food companies towards the sourcing of agricultural commodities from developing countries. The Scorecard looks at seven themes, weighing each theme equally. The index tackles some cutting edge issues that will require rigorous debate and dialogue between companies, civil society and industry experts. Find out more...
No recognition of community land rights, no action to stop the use of farmland to grow fuel crops, and no requirements for suppliers on how land use affects people and the planet. One big no.
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General Mills does run projects to support rural women and girls – but fails to recognize specific issues faced by female workers.
It runs projects to support farmers, but General Mills doesn’t know the number of small-scale producers in its supply chain – and doesn’t ask suppliers to protect farmers’ rights.
Bad news for workers – General Mills doesn’t recognize key issues like the right to earn a living wage. At least it’s committed to ending child and forced labor.
General Mills’ attitude to climate change is general at best. It recognizes the issue, but fails to ask its suppliers to meet any specific requirements.
General Mills is the most secretive of the Big Ten companies. Of all the materials it sources, the only stats publically available are about palm oil. Everything else remains secret…
General Mills is refreshingly honest about the water it uses. But it hasn’t committed to protecting access to water, even for communities surrounding its operations.