I am not familiar with the blue corn situation, but have
researched the Body Shop's "Trade Not Aid" program with the Kayapo
of Brazil. The reality is that "Trade Not Aid" is a far cry from
the Body Shop would have you believe.
The nut press, packaging equipment, and airplane to fly
the nuts out of the Kayapo reserve are Body Shop donations to a
group of Kayapo. These, coupled with the technical assistance
provided by people hired by the Body Shop to (in their very
own words) "coach the Kayapo on skills like forward planning"
amount to an investment of over US $400,000. Add to this gift
the two to three times over market price that the Body Shop pays
the Kayapo for their oil. In strictly economic terms, the result
is that the Kayapo's continued production of brazil nut oil is
entirely dependent upon the Body Shop's continued provision of
massive subsidies. Is this trade or aid? More importantly, it
leaves the Kayapo in the unenviable position of being not only
dependent on the Body Shop's continued capacity and inclination
to subsidize them; but also dependent on the whims of trendy
shoppers.
The social dimension of the program is also problematic.
It has clearly exacerbated tensions between the Kayapo and non-
native residents in the region. It was brought to the Kayapo by
businesspeople and "indian rights advocates" that presuppose that
native groups who do not organize for the market will be overrun
and their culture lost. This supposition is not provable. It is
in my mind highly inappropriate for native rights activists to
seek the imposition of a particular form of social organization
(market production) on any native group. Couple this with their
dangling large amounts of money before the Kayapo and the fact
that these activists are some of the only non-Kayapo to speak the
Kayapo language and it amounts to malfeasance.
Two thoughts to end with - 1) Don't interpret my position
to be one of disrespect for the decision that the Kayapo made to go
ahead with the project - I am simply saying that the people who
purport to be their friends have a questionable agenda and I suspect
that they sought to impose the project on the Kayapo rather than
listen to them and help in ways more attuned to the Kayapo community.
2) Think of the PR windfall this has been for the Body Shop and their
manipulation of the Kayapo image to grace their store and sell their
goods. Most Amazonian natives aren't postcards. What does it mean
to sell a hair conditioner as the link between the west and the Kayapo?
Sorry to have run on so long. I invite your responses and am eager
to exchange information with anyone else interested in the "rainforest
harvest".
Ed Hammond