Fires are ravaging the Amazon, as the world’s largest carbon sink and biodiversity hotspot rises up in smoke. We know who is guilty — it’s Cargill.

Cargill is deeply complicit in the ecological atrocity that’s underway. As citizens living in Cargill’s backyard, we have the special ability to apply hard-hitting pressure on this destructive company.

The fires are no accident or natural disaster. They are the result of the deliberate planning of Brazil’s authoritarian leader Jair Bolsonaro–as a favor to his Big Ag supporters like Cargill. This is a struggle for indigenous existence, rights and land – Bolsonaro has explicitly stated: “the recognition of indigenous land is an obstacle to agribusiness.” He has said on several occasions: “If I become president, there will not be one centimeter more of indigenous land.” [1]

Cargill is helping him live up to that promise.

Cargill is sourcing soy from the Amazon, providing the financial incentives that are driving ranchers to light the Amazon rainforest ablaze. Cargill has also been identified as a leading actor in the illicit trade of embargoed grain.

We call on Cargill to suspend all contracts with suppliers engaged in deforestation, and to support legal protection for Indigenous territories and communities.

Cargill is a sponsor of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Yet Cargill’s support for the arts means nothing if they are setting ablaze the planet that sustains and inspires artistic expression.

Amazon Watch has called for a global day of action on September 5. On this day, people around the world will shine a light on the corporations driving demand for fires in the Amazon.

Cargill must step up and immediately sever its ties to the burning. Its philanthropic donations do not erase the destruction of forests, and the people who rely on and care for them.

Join us outside the Cargill gallery of the Minneapolis Institute of Art at 6 PM on September 5. Bring signs, or a flashlight or headlamp to shine a light on Cargill’s destruction.