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Subject: Militant Farmers Rekindle Anti-Transnationals Campaign
Date: Sept 7, 1995
From: Rich Winkel <rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu>
(by way of Vegetarian Resource Center <vrc@tiac.net>)
India-Economy: Militant Farmers Rekindle Anti-Transnationals Campaign
by Mahesh Uniyal
New Delhi, Aug 3 (IPS) - India's activist campaign against
transnationals has been energised again by a well known militant
farmers' group serving notice on a fast food subsidiary of the
U.S.based Pepsi corporation.
The Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha ,which uses physical force in
its campaign to drive out agribusiness transnationals from India,
has given Pepsi affiliate Kentucky Fried Chicken a week's time to
close shop in the country.
Kentucky Fried Chicken opened the first of its 30 planned Indian
outlets a month ago in Bangalore, the capital of Southern
Karnataka state and the country's fastest growing metropolis.
However, Kentucky Fried Chicken denies the threat publicised by
media reports from Bangalore where the The Karnataka Rajya Raita
Sangha is based. the farmers' outfit made news in recent years
by twice ransacking the Bangalore-based office of the U.S. seed
firm Cargill.
Two years ago, Cargill abandoned a salt making venture on India's
western India coast, citing business reasons. but it was widely
seen as a surrender to activist threats.
"Kentucky Fried Chicken has not received any such notice from The
Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha so we are not commenting on it,"
said a Kentucky Fried Chicken spokesperson in Delhi. She
dismissed as baseless the charges levelled against Kentucky Fried
Chicken by the farmers' organisation and other activists.
In recent months, Kentucky Fried Chicken, along with
international burger giant McDonald's has been targeted by
activists who include prominent political leaders.
Agitated members of Indian parliament shot off a letter to prime
minister P.V. Narasimha Rao two months ago, accusing the
government of buckling under pressure from transnationals. They
urged the government to learn from China's tough stand against
McDonald's.
"If China can stand up to the pressure, what is it that India
lacks in saying no to the American junk food sellers?," They
asked in their letter which ended with an appeal to cancel the
clearance given to Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and
McDonald's.
A driving force behind the campaign is former Indian environment
minister Maneka Gandhi. The The Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha has
repeated Gandhi's well-publicised charges against the fast food
transnational chains.
"I am against all meat junk foods," says Gandhi who has attacked
Pepsi and McDonald's for promoting unhealthy eating habits,
damaging ecology and reducing job opportunities for locals.
She cites scientific studies in the west, including a U.S. Senate
probe which found that every seven seconds a U.S. citizen gets
cancer from overindulging in junk foods.
Gandhi has also charged that the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets
will use 100,000 poultry birds a day while McDonald's will buy an
equal number of goats a week. She fears the spread of poultry
disease among the birds which will be reared on a diet laced with
size and weight- enhancing drugs.
Activists argue that large scale livestock farming necessary to
feed the fast food industry will lead to overgrazing and
increased soil erosion of already degraded lands. they also
ridicule the claim by the transnationals that their ventures will
create jobs for Indians.
However, Kentucky Fried Chicken rebuts the charges. "Kentucky
Fried Chicken is not doing any of the things that they are saying
it is going to do," says the food chain's spokesperson.
Kentucky Fried Chicken will open its remaining outlets in other
big Indian cities over the next seven years. the biggest planned
outlet, like the one in Bangalore, where 200 people can eat, will
not use more than 200 birds daily, she claims.
Not all Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets will be of this size and
Kentucky Fried Chicken expects to use about 1,500 poultry birds a
day when all its shops in India start working, she says. The
company has tied up with Venkateshwar Hatcheries for the supply
of chicken and will ensure the highest quality standards, she
adds.
"The allegation that the birds will be diseased does not make
sense. Kentucky Fried Chicken has 9,400 outlets worldwide and
strict quality control measures are followed," the Kentucky Fried
Chicken spokesperson says.
Each Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet will employ 50 people. and for
every person hired directly, 10 indirect jobs will be created,
she claims.
Kentucky Fried Chicken also denies charges that its joints will
use beef as a filling. Under the terms of the clearance given by
India's foreign investment promotion board, Kentucky Fried
Chicken cannot use beef at all in the Hindu majority nation.
(end/ips/mu/mv/95)
origin: new Delhi/India-economy/
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