U.S. Agribusiness: The New Colonialism? The Problems with Cargill's Palm Oil Expansion in Papua New Guinea

 Come learn about the true cost of palm oil and how to get involved in RAN's Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign. 

Featuring Matilda Pilacapio, a human rights and environmental advocate from Papua New Guinea (see bio below) and Rainforest Action Network (RAN)

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Sat. September 26th, 6-8 pm
Carlson School of Management
Honeywell auditorium, CSOM L-110.
Pizza & Refreshments Provided
Map: http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/CarlSMgmt/CarlSMgmt-map.html

Monday Sept. 28, 2009
7-9 PM
University of Minnesota
Coffman Memorial Union
President’s Room, 3rd Floor
300 Washington Ave. S.E.
Minneapolis
Refreshments provided
Directions: 
http://www.sua.umn.edu/reservations/directions/cmu_directions.php

Sept. 29, 2009 Note Change:
Noon - 1:30 PM Brown Bag Lunch
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)

Stevens Ave Building, 2104 Stevens Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Refreshments Provided

Wednesday Sept. 30
Activist Strategy Session
7 PM /Location TBA (U of Minn campus)



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The Problem with Palm Oil:

Used in half of all consumer products and increasingly in industrial biofuels, palm oil has become one of the world’s largest drivers of tropical rainforest destruction. Rapidly expanding into the bio-diverse forests of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, palm oil is displacing local Indigenous populations and causing great ecological and social conflict. Cargill, Minneapolis-based agribusiness giant, is the largest importer of palm oil into the United States and one of the largest producers of palm oil in Papua New Guinea. Matilda Pilacapio has witnessed firsthand Cargill’s leveling of rainforests, polluting of rivers, and the resulting social upheaval on traditional communities in her region.


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Matilda Pilacapio - Human Rights Advocate, Papua New Guinea

Matilda Pilacapio is a human rights advocate from Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, where she works as a grassroots environmental organizer. She has held numerous positions in provincial government, including a term as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry. Matilda has founded or served as president for a number of education, environment, and women’s groups, including the Milne Bay AIDS Council and the Alatau Women’s Association.

Matilda is currently working with the organization Milne Bay Women in Agriculture to strengthen traditional agricultural systems in response to Cargill's expanding oil palm plantation in the region. Cargill, U.S. agribusiness giant based in Minneapolis, is one of Papua New Guinea's largest producers of palm oil and has increasingly come under scrutiny for the negative social and ecological impacts of their oil palm plantations. The island nation also contains some of the world’s remaining intact rainforests and almost 7 percent of global biodiversity.

For more information on RAN's work: www.ran.org/cargill or www.theproblemwithpalmoil.org