The Coke Machine (54 page)
Authors: Michael Blanding
Page 220 Bard College in upstate New York followed suit:
Lovell, “Students Call for Coke Boycott”; Baran, “Stop Killer Coke!”
Lovell, “Students Call for Coke Boycott”; Baran, “Stop Killer Coke!”
Page 221 “Unfortunately, Bard College officials”:
Lovell, “Students Call for Coke Boycott.”
Lovell, “Students Call for Coke Boycott.”
Page 221 passed by fewer than sixty votes:
Shane Hegarty, “Students Give Coke the Push,”
Irish Times
, October 18, 2003.
Shane Hegarty, “Students Give Coke the Push,”
Irish Times
, October 18, 2003.
Page 221 won by an even higher margin:
Lovell, “Students Call for Coke Boycott.”
Lovell, “Students Call for Coke Boycott.”
Page 221 $100,000-a-year budget:
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke grant requests, 2006 and 2007; Rogers, interview by the author.
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke grant requests, 2006 and 2007; Rogers, interview by the author.
Page 221 Coke’s $30 billion:
The Coca-Cola Company, Annual Report, 2010.
The Coca-Cola Company, Annual Report, 2010.
Page 221 mentioned the situation in Colombia:
Paul Klebnikov, “Coke’s Sinful World,”
Forbes
, December 22, 2003.
Paul Klebnikov, “Coke’s Sinful World,”
Forbes
, December 22, 2003.
Page 222 voted twelve to eight to remove Carleton’s Coke machines:
The details of this account stem solely from Rogers; however, independent sources corroborate the fact that he attended the meeting and debated Coke’s representative. See Ian Werkheiser, “Killer Coke,”
Z Magazine
, August 1, 2004, and Margaret Webb, “Human Rights Charges Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola,”
Washington Post
, April 22, 2004.
The details of this account stem solely from Rogers; however, independent sources corroborate the fact that he attended the meeting and debated Coke’s representative. See Ian Werkheiser, “Killer Coke,”
Z Magazine
, August 1, 2004, and Margaret Webb, “Human Rights Charges Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola,”
Washington Post
, April 22, 2004.
Page 222 next campus to sever its ties with Coke:
Avi Chomsky, interview by the author.
Avi Chomsky, interview by the author.
Page 223 honored as a civil rights pioneer:
Brian C. Mooney, “Patrick’s Path from Courtroom to Boardroom,”
Boston Globe
, August 13, 2006.
Brian C. Mooney, “Patrick’s Path from Courtroom to Boardroom,”
Boston Globe
, August 13, 2006.
Page 223 “from human rights violations”:
Letter from Terry Collingsworth to Equal Justice Works board members, October 2, 2003.
Letter from Terry Collingsworth to Equal Justice Works board members, October 2, 2003.
Page 223 “so we could see”:
Webb, “Human Rights Charges Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola.”
Webb, “Human Rights Charges Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola.”
Page 223 “sources close to the situation”:
Webb, “Human Rights Changes Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola.”
Webb, “Human Rights Changes Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola.”
Page 223 “confidence in the brand”:
Joan Vennochi, “Killer Coke’s Charges Go Flat,”
Boston Globe
, August 10, 2006.
Joan Vennochi, “Killer Coke’s Charges Go Flat,”
Boston Globe
, August 10, 2006.
Page 223 “either of two things”:
Mooney, “Patrick’s Path from Courtroom to Boardroom.”
Mooney, “Patrick’s Path from Courtroom to Boardroom.”
Page 223 The company refused:
Vennochi, “Killer Coke’s Charges Go Flat.”
Vennochi, “Killer Coke’s Charges Go Flat.”
Page 224 $2.1 million consulting contract:
Mooney, “Patrick’s Path from Courtroom to Boardroom.”
Mooney, “Patrick’s Path from Courtroom to Boardroom.”
Page 224 the campaign played a role in Daft’s own retirement:
Rogers, interview by the author.
Rogers, interview by the author.
Page 224 Rogers had a love-hate relationship:
Rogers, interview by the author.
Rogers, interview by the author.
Page 224 “Coke has shown”:
Final Report, “An Investigation of Allegations of Murder and Violence in Coca-Cola’s Bottling Plants,” NYC Fact-Finding Delegation on Coca-Cola in Colombia led by New York city councilman Hiram Monserrate, April 2004.
Final Report, “An Investigation of Allegations of Murder and Violence in Coca-Cola’s Bottling Plants,” NYC Fact-Finding Delegation on Coca-Cola in Colombia led by New York city councilman Hiram Monserrate, April 2004.
Page 224 first-quarter profits of $1.13 billion:
Scott Leith, “Coke’s First-Quarter Profit Climbs 35 Percent,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, April 22, 2004.
Scott Leith, “Coke’s First-Quarter Profit Climbs 35 Percent,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, April 22, 2004.
Page 225 Daft addressed the Colombia situation . . . call for an independent investigation:
The account of the 2004 shareholders meeting draws on video shown on
Democracy Now!
, April 27, 2004, “Killer Coke: Activist Disrupts Coca Cola Shareholders Meeting” (
http://www.democracynow.org/2004/4/27/stream
), as well as Ray Rogers, interview by the author, and the following contemporaneous news reports: Grow, “Labor Activity Bubbly over Coca-Cola Fight”
;
Scott Leith and Matt Kempner, “Scuffle, Catcalls Spice Coca-Cola’s Annual Meeting in Delaware,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, April 22, 2004; and Webb, “Human Rights Charges Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola.”
The account of the 2004 shareholders meeting draws on video shown on
Democracy Now!
, April 27, 2004, “Killer Coke: Activist Disrupts Coca Cola Shareholders Meeting” (
http://www.democracynow.org/2004/4/27/stream
), as well as Ray Rogers, interview by the author, and the following contemporaneous news reports: Grow, “Labor Activity Bubbly over Coca-Cola Fight”
;
Scott Leith and Matt Kempner, “Scuffle, Catcalls Spice Coca-Cola’s Annual Meeting in Delaware,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, April 22, 2004; and Webb, “Human Rights Charges Still Gnaw at Coca-Cola.”
Page 225 hadn’t intended the meeting to turn physical:
Rogers, interview by the author.
Rogers, interview by the author.
Page 225 77,000 shares of common stock:
The Coca-Cola Company, Proxy Statement, March 4, 2004; The Coca-Cola Company, “Historical Price Lookup,”
http://ir.thecocacolacompany.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=94566&p=irol-stocklookup
.
The Coca-Cola Company, Proxy Statement, March 4, 2004; The Coca-Cola Company, “Historical Price Lookup,”
http://ir.thecocacolacompany.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=94566&p=irol-stocklookup
.
Page 226 $5,000 check to Corporate Campaign, Inc.:
Note from B. Wardlaw to Ray Rogers, April 23, 2004.
Note from B. Wardlaw to Ray Rogers, April 23, 2004.
Page 226 refusal to investigate in Colombia:
Betsy Morris, “The Real Story: How Did Coca-Cola’s Management Go from First-Rate to Farcical in Six Short Years? Tommy the Barber Knows,”
Fortune
, May 17, 2004.
CHAPTER 9 . ALL THE WATER IN INDIABetsy Morris, “The Real Story: How Did Coca-Cola’s Management Go from First-Rate to Farcical in Six Short Years? Tommy the Barber Knows,”
Fortune
, May 17, 2004.
Page 228 fecal coliform bacteria count of 600,000:
“Up to Their Necks in It,”
The Economist
, July 17, 2008.
“Up to Their Necks in It,”
The Economist
, July 17, 2008.
Page 228 toxic soup of heavy metals:
“Hazardous Heavy Metals Polluting Ganga,”
Times of India
, June 4, 2009.
“Hazardous Heavy Metals Polluting Ganga,”
Times of India
, June 4, 2009.
Page 228 “a cloudy brown soup of excrement”:
“Up to Their Necks in It.”
“Up to Their Necks in It.”
Page 228 ambitious cleanup plan:
Dipak Mishra, “Clean Ganga Water Still a Dream,”
Times of India,
March 22, 2010; Samanth Subramanian, “The Monumental Decline of a Great River,”
MINT,
September 1, 2009.
Dipak Mishra, “Clean Ganga Water Still a Dream,”
Times of India,
March 22, 2010; Samanth Subramanian, “The Monumental Decline of a Great River,”
MINT,
September 1, 2009.
Page 228 Nearly half of those who bathe:
“India’s Ganges River Brings Disease, Pollution; Believers Scarcely Notice,” Associated Press, May 9, 2002.
“India’s Ganges River Brings Disease, Pollution; Believers Scarcely Notice,” Associated Press, May 9, 2002.
Page 229 “Lok Samiti follows”:
Nandlal Master, interview by the author.
Nandlal Master, interview by the author.
Page 230 The plant here dates back to 1995:
Nandlal, interview by the author; Shira Wolf, “Thanda-Hearted Matlab: Coca-Cola in India,” University of Wisconsin College Year in India paper, 2003-2004.
Nandlal, interview by the author; Shira Wolf, “Thanda-Hearted Matlab: Coca-Cola in India,” University of Wisconsin College Year in India paper, 2003-2004.
Page 230 Coca-Cola India purchased the plant:
Nandlal, interview by the author; Wolf, “Thanda-Hearted Matlab”;
Independent Third Party Assessment of Coca-Cola Facilities in India,
Project Report No. 2006WM21 (New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute, 2006), 219 (hereafter TERI report).
Nandlal, interview by the author; Wolf, “Thanda-Hearted Matlab”;
Independent Third Party Assessment of Coca-Cola Facilities in India,
Project Report No. 2006WM21 (New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute, 2006), 219 (hereafter TERI report).
Page 230 clashing with the company:
Nandlal, interview by the author.
Nandlal, interview by the author.
Page 230 short-term contracts:
Kalyan Ranjan, interview by the author.
Kalyan Ranjan, interview by the author.
Page 230 workers appealed to company management:
Nandlal, interview by the author.
Nandlal, interview by the author.
Page 230 “The first major problem”:
Urmika Vishwakarma, interview by the author.
Urmika Vishwakarma, interview by the author.
Page 230 water pooled by the side of the highway:
Nantoo Banerjee,
The Real Thing: Coke’s Bumpy Ride Through India
(Kolkata, India: Frontpage, 2009), 79.
Nantoo Banerjee,
The Real Thing: Coke’s Bumpy Ride Through India
(Kolkata, India: Frontpage, 2009), 79.
Page 231 “nothing would grow”:
Nandlal and Vishwakarma, interviews by the author.
Nandlal and Vishwakarma, interviews by the author.
Page 231 water shortages in 2002:
Shankkar Aiyar, “The Impact: Thirst Aid,”
India Today
, 2002; “Indian Economy: General Review,”
Finance India
, March 2003; “Drought May Undo Govt’s Plans for High GDP Growth,”
Press Trust of India
, July 25, 2004.
Shankkar Aiyar, “The Impact: Thirst Aid,”
India Today
, 2002; “Indian Economy: General Review,”
Finance India
, March 2003; “Drought May Undo Govt’s Plans for High GDP Growth,”
Press Trust of India
, July 25, 2004.
Page 231 one of ninety-seven wells that Lok Samiti says:
R. Chandrika, “Decreasing Water Levels: Status of Water Table in Mehdiganj and Surrounding Villages, Varanasi, U.P. (August 2006),” Lok Samiti Varanasi.
R. Chandrika, “Decreasing Water Levels: Status of Water Table in Mehdiganj and Surrounding Villages, Varanasi, U.P. (August 2006),” Lok Samiti Varanasi.
Page 231 villagers staged their first rally:
Nandlal, interview by the author; Mukesh Prabhan, president of Nagepur village committee, interview by the author.
Nandlal, interview by the author; Mukesh Prabhan, president of Nagepur village committee, interview by the author.
Page 231 ordered Coke to clean up:
Nandlal, interview by the author; Banerjee, 79.
Nandlal, interview by the author; Banerjee, 79.
Page 231 canal overflowed into his fish pond:
Local farmer, interview by the author.
Local farmer, interview by the author.
Page 232 Coke uses only 3 percent of the area’s groundwater:
Ranjan, interview by the author.
Ranjan, interview by the author.
Page 232 “We have never dispensed biosolids to farmers”:
Press Trust of India
, July 31, 2003.
Press Trust of India
, July 31, 2003.
Page 233 “since 2003, we no longer distribute biosolids”:
“Coca-Cola India: Questions and Answers,”
www.cokefacts.com/India/facts_in_qa.shtml
.
“Coca-Cola India: Questions and Answers,”
www.cokefacts.com/India/facts_in_qa.shtml
.
Page 233 problem persisted for months:
Banerjee, 79.
Banerjee, 79.
Page 233 15 million liters during June:
TERI report, 206.
TERI report, 206.
Page 233 seven-step process of purification:
Sanjay Bansal, interview by the author.
Sanjay Bansal, interview by the author.
Page 234 tank containing two ground fish:
Bansal, interview by the author.
Bansal, interview by the author.
Page 234 a lot of good for his village:
Dudh Nath Yadav, interview by the author.
Dudh Nath Yadav, interview by the author.
Page 234 more than 150 people protesting:
Ranjan, interview by the author.
Ranjan, interview by the author.
Page 234 thousands of people at a time protesting:
See, for example, India Resource Center, “Police Attack Coca-Cola Protest, over 350 Arrested,” press release, November 25, 2004; “UP Villagers Allege Coca-Cola of ‘Poisoning’ Their Drinking Water,”
Hindustan Times
, October 5, 2006.
See, for example, India Resource Center, “Police Attack Coca-Cola Protest, over 350 Arrested,” press release, November 25, 2004; “UP Villagers Allege Coca-Cola of ‘Poisoning’ Their Drinking Water,”
Hindustan Times
, October 5, 2006.
Page 235 Thums Up, a drier and fruitier cola:
Tuck Business School of Dartmouth,
Coca-Cola India
, Case no. 1-0085, prepared by Jennifer Kaye, under the direction of Professor Paul A. Argenti, 2004 (hereafter, Tuck case).
Tuck Business School of Dartmouth,
Coca-Cola India
, Case no. 1-0085, prepared by Jennifer Kaye, under the direction of Professor Paul A. Argenti, 2004 (hereafter, Tuck case).
Page 235 Coke simply bought up the company:
Banerjee, 19.
Banerjee, 19.
Page 235 at least 49 percent of shares:
Banerjee, 25.
Banerjee, 25.
Page 235 6 bottles per person per year:
Tuck case.
Tuck case.
Page 236 Coke languishes in third place:
Banerjee, 43-46.
Banerjee, 43-46.
Page 236 stay of execution in divesting its shares:
Banerjee, 28-32.
Banerjee, 28-32.
Page 236 10 percent of the company is Indian-owned:
Banerjee, 33-42.
Banerjee, 33-42.
Page 236 Volume grew by nearly 40 percent:
Tuck case.
Tuck case.
Page 237 sank six bore wells:
Coca-Cola India, “The Coca-Cola Company Addresses Allegations Made About Our Business in India,” press release, June 1, 2004,
www.thecocacolacompany.com/presscenter/viewpoints_india
.
Coca-Cola India, “The Coca-Cola Company Addresses Allegations Made About Our Business in India,” press release, June 1, 2004,
www.thecocacolacompany.com/presscenter/viewpoints_india
.
Page 237 fast-tracked approval:
A. Krishnan, Perumutty Gram Panchayat president, interview by the author.
A. Krishnan, Perumutty Gram Panchayat president, interview by the author.
Page 237 “When Coca-Cola first”...“Many villages have boycotted”:
R. Ajayan, interview by the author.
R. Ajayan, interview by the author.
Page 237 distributed sludge for use as fertilizer:
Ajayan, interview by the author; several anonymous villagers, interviews by the author.
Ajayan, interview by the author; several anonymous villagers, interviews by the author.
Page 238 never enough water:
Anonymous villagers, interviews by the author.
Anonymous villagers, interviews by the author.
Page 238 bitter aftertaste:
Taste test by the author.
Taste test by the author.
Page 238 literacy rate of over 90 percent:
Kerala Fact Sheet, 2005-2006, National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India,
http://www.nfhsindia.org/pdf/KE.pdf
.
Kerala Fact Sheet, 2005-2006, National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India,
http://www.nfhsindia.org/pdf/KE.pdf
.
Page 238 antibusiness climate had led to high unemployment:
See Banerjee, 128-129.
See Banerjee, 128-129.
Page 238 returned a portion of their ancestral lands:
C. R. Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle” (Thiruvananthapuram [Trivandrum], India: Plachimada Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samithi and Plachimada Struggle Solidarity Committee, November 2006), 4; C. R. Bijoy, interview by the author.
C. R. Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle” (Thiruvananthapuram [Trivandrum], India: Plachimada Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samithi and Plachimada Struggle Solidarity Committee, November 2006), 4; C. R. Bijoy, interview by the author.
Page 239 “I told them their strength was in the local”:
Bijoy, interview by the author.
Bijoy, interview by the author.
Page 239 around-the-clock sit-in:
Bijoy and Veloor Swaminathan, interviews by the author; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 7-10.
Bijoy and Veloor Swaminathan, interviews by the author; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 7-10.
Page 239 “unfit for human consumption”:
Sangram Metals report, April 3, 2002; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 10.
Sangram Metals report, April 3, 2002; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 10.
Page 239 “In the beginning”:
Krishnan, interview by the author.
Krishnan, interview by the author.
Page 239 Indian branch of Greenpeace:
D. Rajeev, “Coca-Cola’s Cup of Woes Overflows,” Inter Press Service, August 7, 2003.
D. Rajeev, “Coca-Cola’s Cup of Woes Overflows,” Inter Press Service, August 7, 2003.
Page 240 Sympathetic stories in the media:
For example, “Kerala Villagers Up in Arms Against Coca-Cola,”
Press Trust of India
, June 21, 2002.
For example, “Kerala Villagers Up in Arms Against Coca-Cola,”
Press Trust of India
, June 21, 2002.
Page 240 declared their support:
“Communist Parties Throw Support,”
Press Trust of India
, February 3, 2003.
“Communist Parties Throw Support,”
Press Trust of India
, February 3, 2003.
Page 240 “They were just too arrogant”:
Krishnan, interview by the author.
Krishnan, interview by the author.
Page 240 revoking the plant’s operating license:
Krishnan, interview by the author; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 13;
Press Trust of India
, July 31, 2003.
Krishnan, interview by the author; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 13;
Press Trust of India
, July 31, 2003.
Page 240 solid waste as fertilizer:
“India Coca-Cola Investigation” (transcript), presenter John Waite, BBC Radio 4, July 25, 2003.
“India Coca-Cola Investigation” (transcript), presenter John Waite, BBC Radio 4, July 25, 2003.
Page 240 useless as fertilizer:
P. Venugopal, “Toxicity in Plachimada Sludge,”
The Hindu
, July 27, 2003.
P. Venugopal, “Toxicity in Plachimada Sludge,”
The Hindu
, July 27, 2003.
Page 240 toxic levels of lead and cadmium:
BBC Test Results, “Analytical Results for Sample NGP03020”; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 11; “Coke’s ‘Toxic Sludge’ Raises Hackles in Kerala; State Pollution Control Board to Probe BBC Charge Against Coca-Cola,”
India Abroad
, August 8, 2003.
BBC Test Results, “Analytical Results for Sample NGP03020”; Bijoy, “Kerala’s Plachimada Struggle,” 11; “Coke’s ‘Toxic Sludge’ Raises Hackles in Kerala; State Pollution Control Board to Probe BBC Charge Against Coca-Cola,”
India Abroad
, August 8, 2003.
Page 240 prostate and kidney cancer:
National Toxicology Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “11th Report on Carcinogens,” January 31, 2005.
National Toxicology Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “11th Report on Carcinogens,” January 31, 2005.
Page 241 evidence from a respected British university:
For an excellent exploration of modern India in all its complexity and contradictions, see Mira Kamdar,
Planet India: How the Fastest-Growing Democracy Is Transforming America and the World
(New York: Scribner, 2007). For a discussion of cultural factors relating to the issue of pesticides in cola, see Neeraj Vedwan, “Pesticides in Coca-Cola and Pepsi: Consumerism, Brand Image, and Public Interest in a Globalizing India,”
Cultural Anthropology
22, no. 4 (2007), 659-684.
For an excellent exploration of modern India in all its complexity and contradictions, see Mira Kamdar,
Planet India: How the Fastest-Growing Democracy Is Transforming America and the World
(New York: Scribner, 2007). For a discussion of cultural factors relating to the issue of pesticides in cola, see Neeraj Vedwan, “Pesticides in Coca-Cola and Pepsi: Consumerism, Brand Image, and Public Interest in a Globalizing India,”
Cultural Anthropology
22, no. 4 (2007), 659-684.
Page 241 Kerala Pollution Control Board did its own tests:
Press Trust of India
, July 31, 2003.
Press Trust of India
, July 31, 2003.
Page 241 four times the tolerable limit:
Press Trust of India
, August 6, 2003; Kerala State Pollution Control Board, “Presence of Heavy Metals in Sludge Generated in the Factory of M/S Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd., Palakkad, A Study Report,” September 2003.
Press Trust of India
, August 6, 2003; Kerala State Pollution Control Board, “Presence of Heavy Metals in Sludge Generated in the Factory of M/S Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd., Palakkad, A Study Report,” September 2003.
Page 241 vowed to pursue legal action:
Press Trust of India
, August 7, 2003.
Press Trust of India
, August 7, 2003.
Page 241 pesticides at thirty-seven times the European standards:
Banerjee, 85-86; Ranjit Devraj, “Indian Coke and Pepsi Laced with Pesticides, Says NGO,” Inter Press Service, August 5, 2003.
Banerjee, 85-86; Ranjit Devraj, “Indian Coke and Pepsi Laced with Pesticides, Says NGO,” Inter Press Service, August 5, 2003.
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