Smart alliance : how a global corporation and environmental activists transformed a tarnished brand / J. Gary Taylor and Patricia J. Scharlin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, J. Gary.

Contributor:

Scharlin, Patricia J.

Series:

Yale Agrarian Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chiquita Brands International.

Rainforest Alliance.

Banana trade--Environmental aspects.

Banana trade.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (301 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Large and wealthy global companies too often fail to acknowledge environmental responsibility or workers' rights. This book tells the dramatic story of one company-Chiquita Brands International-that decided to change the negative paradigm. Formerly the notorious United Fruit Company, a paternalistic organization that gave the name "Banana Republic" to tropical countries in Central America, Chiquita defied all expectations in the mid-1990's by forming an innovative pact with the Rainforest Alliance that transformed not only the corporation itself but also an important segment of the banana industry. Gary Taylor and Patricia Scharlin reveal the inside story of how corporate executives, banana workers, local leaders, and conservation advocates learned to work together and trust one another. Over the objections of skeptical critics, Chiquita and the Rainforest Alliance established a Better Banana "seal of approval" to certify genuine efforts to improve soil and water quality, ensure rainforest conservation, and enhance worker health and safety. This chronicle of their collaboration, told objectively and with extensive documentation, presents a promising new model of cooperative behavior--a model that shows how multinational companies can become motivated to solve critical global problems.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Timeline

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Risk, Transparency, and Trust

2. Red, White, and Bruised

3. Times Change

4. Why Bananas and Why Chiquita?

5. Strange Bedfellows

6. Grass-Roots Snapshots

7. Blue Bananas

8. Agricultural Antagonists

9. ''Daylight Come . . . ''

10. The Many Faces of Corporate Responsibility

11. Leveling the Label Field

12. Unfinished Business

Appendix A. Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organization

Appendix B. Chemicals Banned under the Better Banana Program

Appendix C. Selected Tables from Chiquita's 2001 Corporate Responsibility Report

Appendix D. Sustainable Agriculture Network Members as of 2003

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-269) and index.

ISBN:

9786611729974

9781281729972

1281729973

9780300128079

030012807X

OCLC:

923591482