Environmental organization Greenpeace launched a campaign in April 2006 accusing McDonald's of contributing to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Activists held peaceful, visually striking protests at McDonald's locations in Britain and Germany, arguing that the chain's purchase of meat raised on Amazonian soy accelerates forest loss.
Greenpeace argued that three American agribusiness companies, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, and Bunge, together control 60 percent of Brazil's soy output. That soy feeds livestock in Europe, and some of the resulting meat ends up supplied to McDonald's.
The group singled out Cargill for particular criticism, alleging the company had dealings with farms that illegally cleared protected and indigenous lands, with some operations allegedly relying on forced labor. Greenpeace also alleged Cargill constructed a port inside the Amazon basin without legal authorization to support the soy trade.
A study published the previous month in the journal Nature warned that, if current trends continue, cattle ranchers and soy farmers could eliminate 40 percent of Amazonian forest cover by 2050.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.