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Cargill stories – a numerical snapshot of 2016

January 03, 2017

Happy New Year! As we at Cargill welcome 2017, here’s a “by the numbers” look at some of the stories that defined our 2016 and are continuing to pave our road forward. Thank you for reading and we wish you a safe and successful year ahead.

10 years of sustainable soy production in Brazil, made possible by a voluntary moratorium on farming soybeans from deforested areas of the Amazon biome. Cargill, The Nature Conservancy, and other public and private partners worked together to improve monitoring, trace suppliers and reduce the annual rate of deforestation by about 80 percent.

Near 9,000 cattle tracked from birth to beef by McDonald’s in a pilot program in Canada, with the help of Cargill’s High River and Spruce Grove beef plants. The program helped the restaurant meet its commitment to sustainable sourcing and tracking beef as it moves through every step of the supply chain.

800 million people worldwide don’t get enough to eat every day. That’s why Cargill works to expand access to food, improve nutrition and pursue partnerships to end hunger, from partnerships with national food banks to volunteer giving campaigns. In Hereford, England, poultry business employees delivered thousands of food baskets to senior citizens in the community. In Rouen, France, cocoa and chocolate employees gave more than 110 pounds of chocolate to local nursing homes.

78 new trucks leased by cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire, made possible by a partnership between Cargill and the International Finance Corporation. Dubbed “Doni Doni” – “step by step” in the Dioula language – the program gave farmers access to financing to make long-term investments and move closer to financial independence.

65 farmers in the Soil Health Partnership, demonstrating practices that can reduce nutrient runoff and improve soil health. The group is supported by a $4 million commitment from the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative, formally launched in August with founding members Cargill, the Environmental Defense Fund, General Mills, Kellogg, Monsanto, PepsiCo, The Nature Conservancy World Wildlife Fund.

5 steps to address climate change, including signing a pledge with other business leaders to reduce Cargill’s greenhouse emissions, improving water and energy efficiency in supply chains, curbing deforestation, and sponsoring events that bring international leaders and experts together to explore global impacts.

4 misunderstood ingredients that might sound frightening, but in reality are anything but. Lecithin might sound like an artificial chemical, for instance, but it’s a naturally occurring emulsifier that holds together ingredients that would otherwise separate. And for all the press it gets, gluten is just part of many grains.

3 strikes and you’re out – or in the case of the average Major League Baseball, seven pitches before the dirt or the bat renders it too scuffed for use. Rawlings makes 2.4 million baseballs a year to keep up with demand, and Cargill’s beef plants help supply the cow hides that turn into the leather.

256 schoolchildren in the villages of Rangampeta Mandalam in southern India getting a daily snack of an egg, a glass of milk, a pack of fortified biscuits and fruit, through a partnership between Cargill India and Charities Aid Foundation India. In an area where many families struggle to put enough food on the table every day, the simple supplements helped bring dramatic improvements in health indicators and academic performance.

1 million lives improved by 2020. That’s the goal of an array of grants, totaling $13 million across 15 countries, announced by Cargill. They’re focused on scaling up successful programs and testing new ideas, from the expansion of women led family poultry farms in China to fighting food insecurity in Minnesota.

Find more stories here.