Corporate Accountability International
Encyclopedia
Corporate Accountability International (formerly INFACT) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1977. Their campaign headquarters are in Boston, Massachusetts and they have offices in Oakland, California
, Seattle, Washington
, and Bogotá
, Colombia
. Currently their most prominent campaign is Think Outside the Bottle.
, the environment
and democracy
from abuse by transnational corporations.
From 1977 to 1986 the Infant Formula Campaign and Nestlé Boycott
brought about significant reforms in the life-threatening marketing of infant formula in developing countries. The work of Corporate Accountability International and allies contributed to the passage of the World Health Organization
's International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
in 1981.
From 1984 to 1993 the Nuclear Weaponmakers Campaign and General Electric
(GE) Boycott
helped push industry leader GE out of the nuclear weapons business and exposed the human and environmental costs of the corporation's nuclear weapons production and promotion. The international boycott of GE products cost the company over $19 million in lost medical equipment sales and $100 million in overall sales. Major retail stores including Safeway
and Target
began stocking light bulbs made by other companies. In 1991, Corporate Accountability International commissioned the Academy Award winning documentary, "Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment" that juxtaposed "GE's rosy 'We Bring Good Things To Life' commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been devastated by the company's involvement in building and testing nuclear bombs." In 1993, GE caved under enormous public pressure and moved out of the nuclear weapons business.
They spent the fall of 2005 working alongside other organizations to get a number of African countries to ratify the treaty and also gained notice for their attempts to get the US to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In 2009 they gained notice for instigating the removal of tobacco company representatives from a UN-backed meeting on tobacco smuggling. The Challenging Big Tobacco Campaign is currently focused on expanding implementation and enforcement of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
In 2004 Corporate Accountability International launched the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign to promote, protect and ensure public funding for public water systems and challenge corporations who undermine public confidence in tap water
. Recently, Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside The Bottle Campaign has garnered international notice. The campaign has been supported by Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson
, who has also begun his own “Knock Out Bottled Water” website,
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom
, and more.
The campaign also played a major role in the July 2007 decision by PepsiCo
to change the label on their Aquafina
bottled water to more plainly state it is sourced from public water.
The campaign was also featured on NBC Nightly News
in October 2007. On World Water Day March 22nd, 2010 Corporate Accountability International released the film Story of Bottled Water with the Story of Stuff project.
In 2009 Corporate Accountability International launched the Value [The] Meal Campaign challenging corporate abuse of food by the fast food industry. The campaign demands to the fast food industry include: stop fast food marketing, promotion and sponsorship that appeals to children and teenagers; stop manipulating public health policy and nutrition science; and provide complete, accurate and non-promotional information about the health risks of fast food. On a similar tack, in April 2010 the nonprofit began calling for the 'retirement' of Ronald McDonald
, saying the venerable mascot fuels childhood obesity.
Members of the campaign advisory board include Frances Moore Lappé
author of Diet for a Small Planet
, Susan Linn, EdD co-founder and director of The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
, Marion Nestle
Ph.D., M.P.H., the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University
, Ronnie Cummins National Director of the Organic Consumers Association
, David L. Katz MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP Director and founder of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, Raj Patel
, PHD author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
, Scot Quaranda the Campaign Director for Dogwood Alliance
, Michele Simon, JD, MPH author of Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back, and Judy Wicks founder of Philadelphia’s White Dog Cafe.
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, and Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. Currently their most prominent campaign is Think Outside the Bottle.
History
Since 1977 Corporate Accountability International has waged a number of high-profile campaigns to protect public healthPublic health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, the environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
and democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
from abuse by transnational corporations.
From 1977 to 1986 the Infant Formula Campaign and Nestlé Boycott
Nestlé boycott
The Nestlé boycott is a boycott launched on July 7, 1977, in the United States against the Swiss-based Nestlé corporation. It spread quickly throughout the United States, and expanded into Europe in the early 1980s. In Canada, the controversy lasted from 1978 to 1984...
brought about significant reforms in the life-threatening marketing of infant formula in developing countries. The work of Corporate Accountability International and allies contributed to the passage of the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
's International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes is an international health policy framework for breastfeeding promotion adopted by the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization in 1981...
in 1981.
From 1984 to 1993 the Nuclear Weaponmakers Campaign and General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
(GE) Boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
helped push industry leader GE out of the nuclear weapons business and exposed the human and environmental costs of the corporation's nuclear weapons production and promotion. The international boycott of GE products cost the company over $19 million in lost medical equipment sales and $100 million in overall sales. Major retail stores including Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
and Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
began stocking light bulbs made by other companies. In 1991, Corporate Accountability International commissioned the Academy Award winning documentary, "Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment" that juxtaposed "GE's rosy 'We Bring Good Things To Life' commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been devastated by the company's involvement in building and testing nuclear bombs." In 1993, GE caved under enormous public pressure and moved out of the nuclear weapons business.
Current campaigns
In 1994 Corporate Accountability International launched the Challenging Big Tobacco Campaign. In 2003, years of campaigning culminated in the adoption of the world's first public health and corporate accountability treaty -- the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.They spent the fall of 2005 working alongside other organizations to get a number of African countries to ratify the treaty and also gained notice for their attempts to get the US to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In 2009 they gained notice for instigating the removal of tobacco company representatives from a UN-backed meeting on tobacco smuggling. The Challenging Big Tobacco Campaign is currently focused on expanding implementation and enforcement of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
In 2004 Corporate Accountability International launched the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign to promote, protect and ensure public funding for public water systems and challenge corporations who undermine public confidence in tap water
Tap water
Tap water is a principal component of "indoor plumbing", which became available in urban areas of the developed world during the last quarter of the 19th century, and common during the mid-20th century...
. Recently, Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside The Bottle Campaign has garnered international notice. The campaign has been supported by Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson
Rocky Anderson
Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson served two terms as the 33rd mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, between 2000 and 2008. He is the Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights...
, who has also begun his own “Knock Out Bottled Water” website,
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
, and more.
The campaign also played a major role in the July 2007 decision by PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
to change the label on their Aquafina
Aquafina
Aquafina is a brand of bottled water products produced by PepsiCo, Inc., consisting of both unflavored and flavored water. The Aquafina brand name is also licensed for use on multiple skin care products, including lip balm and wrinkle cream...
bottled water to more plainly state it is sourced from public water.
The campaign was also featured on NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
in October 2007. On World Water Day March 22nd, 2010 Corporate Accountability International released the film Story of Bottled Water with the Story of Stuff project.
In 2009 Corporate Accountability International launched the Value [The] Meal Campaign challenging corporate abuse of food by the fast food industry. The campaign demands to the fast food industry include: stop fast food marketing, promotion and sponsorship that appeals to children and teenagers; stop manipulating public health policy and nutrition science; and provide complete, accurate and non-promotional information about the health risks of fast food. On a similar tack, in April 2010 the nonprofit began calling for the 'retirement' of Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and...
, saying the venerable mascot fuels childhood obesity.
Members of the campaign advisory board include Frances Moore Lappé
Frances Moore Lappé
Frances Moore Lappé is the author of 18 books including the three-million copy Diet for a Small Planet. She is the co-founder of three national organizations that explore the roots of hunger, poverty and environmental crises, as well as solutions now emerging worldwide through what she calls...
author of Diet for a Small Planet
Diet for a Small Planet
Diet for a Small Planet is a 1971 bestselling book by Frances Moore Lappé, the first major book to critique grain-fed meat production as wasteful and a contributor to global food scarcity...
, Susan Linn, EdD co-founder and director of The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is a "national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents, and individuals who care about children [and is] the only national organization devoted to limiting the impact of commercial culture on children." It sponsors the...
, Marion Nestle
Marion Nestle
Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, in the department that she chaired from 1988 through 2003. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the...
Ph.D., M.P.H., the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, Ronnie Cummins National Director of the Organic Consumers Association
Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association is a consumer protection and organic agriculture advocacy group based in Finland, Minnesota. It was formed in 1998 in the wake of the mass backlash by organic consumers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture's controversial proposed regulations for organic food...
, David L. Katz MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP Director and founder of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, Raj Patel
Raj Patel
Raj Patel is a British-born American academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United States for extended periods. He is best known for his 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System...
, PHD author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
Stuffed and Starved
Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System is a non-fiction book written by Raj Patel. It was published in 2008 by Melville House Publishing...
, Scot Quaranda the Campaign Director for Dogwood Alliance
Dogwood Alliance
The Dogwood Alliance, based out of Asheville, North Carolina, is a network of over 70 groups around the southern United States working to achieve broad-based support to end unsustainable forestry practices in the region...
, Michele Simon, JD, MPH author of Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back, and Judy Wicks founder of Philadelphia’s White Dog Cafe.