Food For Thought: A Cargill Examination

In Charge Of our Wallets

We as consumers in the U.S. have the power to force change in the food industry with our spending. There is something to be said for the power of the purse. But wielding that power is difficult when our grocery choices are controlled by just a handful of outsized corporations. It should come as no surprise that most supermarket offerings are dominated by a few global monoliths—Mondelez, Kraft, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Mars, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Unilever—according to several watchdog organizations. All of these companies deserve scrutiny, but one not mentioned in most lists has managed to avoid the harshest spotlight.

Despite being hailed by Mighty Earth as “the worst company in the world,” Cargill has cleverly remained outside the public’s general awareness. According to Henry Waxman, former U.S. Congressman and now Chairman of this global environmental advocacy group, the accusation is backed by extensive research and ongoing communication with the company itself.

The worst company in the world. We recognize that this is an audacious claim. But when it comes to addressing the most important problems facing our world, including the destruction of the natural environment, the pollution of our air and water, the warming of the globe, the displacement of Indigenous peoples, child labor, and global poverty, Cargill is not only consistently in last place, but is driving these problems at a scale that dwarfs their closest competitors. 

—Forward from Henry Waxman in The Mighty Earth Report on Cargill

How To Be The Best At Being The Worst

The evidence unearthed by this extensive report  is staggering. When it comes to the most pressing global issues listed above, Cargill isn’t just lagging behind. It is actively exacerbating these crises while signing off on sustainability and environmental obligations.

Cargill supplies the above-mentioned corporations and other major players in the food ecosystem with cocoa, soy products, animal feed, palm oil, food starch and glucose, and fertilizers. It operates poultry factories and livestock feedlots of the sort you probably don’t want to know about. As an example it is the largest poultry “farmer” in Thailand.  It also has a lucrative financial services arm, which allows it to wield enormous influence over commodities markets. Through its ownership of the hedge fund Black River Asset Management—reportedly operating without strict financial oversight, according to Broker Chooser—Cargill enjoys a largely unregulated position of power.

The company has been embroiled in lawsuits alleging its involvement in the abduction and forced labor of children trafficked from Mali to work on cocoa plantations in Côte d’Ivoire. The case was dismissed by the current U.S. Supreme Court. Cargill’s meat products have also been linked to deadly contamination incidents. In 2024 alone, over 16,000 lbs of ground beef shipped to Walmart nationwide were recalled due to E. coli contamination. That recall, however, was minor compared to the 140,000 lbs of tainted meat it dumped onto American supermarket shelves in 2018.

Talking The Talk

Reports from Greenpeace, Mighty Earth, and even the U.S. Justice Department paint a grim picture of Cargill’s operations. Like Koch Industries, Cargill is a privately owned behemoth, meaning it is not subject to shareholder scrutiny. This secrecy has allowed the company to sign numerous pledges and moratoriums—promising to improve labor conditions, ban child labor (read: slavery), and curb environmental destruction—only to break most, if not all, of them.

Founded in the 19th century as a grain storage facility, Cargill has a long history of price-fixing and other unsavory practices. In the 1930s, the Chicago Board of Trade initially refused to grant Cargill membership due to its unethical behavior, only relenting under federal government pressure. Later, during World War II, Cargill was accused of profiteering through grain storage and shipments. Today, it is the largest soy producer in the world, a distinction with dire consequences—three-quarters of global soy production is used for livestock feed, much of it grown on illegally cleared land.

Cargill’s grip extends beyond soy to palm oil, another industry rife with corruption and environmental devastation. The company has consistently leveraged relationships with fragile or corrupt governments to gain access to cheap land for palm oil plantations. Its cocoa dealings are equally troubling, entangled with plantations that rely on forced labor. If you’ve ever wondered how certain chocolate brands manage to sell their products so cheaply, consider the two chocolate companies Cargill owns: Wilbur and Peters.

The scale of Cargill’s disregard for sustainability is staggering. Its environmental destruction stretches from South American deforestation (often with the tacit approval of local governments) to pollution flowing from U.S. rivers into the Gulf of Mexico. And it isn’t just agricultural land that Cargill exploits—its real estate development plans in Redwood City, California, aim to construct 12,000 housing units atop saltwater marshlands. What could possibly go wrong?

Cargill is a major supplier to Sysco, McDonald’s, Burger King, Safeway, and Giant, among many others. When confronted about their reliance on Cargill, executives from these companies often claim that if only Cargill complied with regulations or had an interest in sustainability, they would happily support such efforts. Yet the reality remains unchanged.

Mighty Earth’s report on Cargill is worth reading in full. The corporations that depend on Cargill must hear from consumers—and know that we are paying attention when we reach for our wallets.