Community Involvement
The company maintains the Cargill Foundation, completing 36 years in 2009, thus maintaining its commitment to improving social actions and incorporating them into its strategy. The Foundation coordinates social responsibility programs for the company, training and directing the work of 360 volunteers, while also collaborating with the development of initiatives within the company’s units. In 2009, the institution improved its corporate governance model based on studies conducted in recent years. One of the results was the clear definition of the directors’ roles and the classification and suitability of their activities.
The year brought expansion in partnerships with entities and municipalities. One example of this was a partnership formed with USAID, an independent agency of the US government that develops initiatives for economic and humanitarian assistance around the world. Cargill will be a partner in the project for the development of a sanitation system (Biological Septic Tank Digester) in the rural area of Porto Velho (state of Rondônia), alongside the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). It will be the role of Cargill Foundation to coordinate the initiative as a whole, using the social technology provided by Embrapa to introduce basic sanitation by replacing open sewage pits with biological septic tank digesters. The waste material will be used as organic fertilizer, thus avoiding contamination of the groundwater table and contributing to prevent disease.
Another partnership formed with the Brazilian Association of Chicken Producers and Exporters (ABEF), Brazilian Association of Producers and Exporters of Pork (Abipecs), and Brazilian Poultry Union (UBA) resulted in the publication of two technical books in the areas of animal health and nutrition. Ten thousand booklets aimed at the small farmer with guidance on preventing serious animal diseases will also be sent out.
In the city of Primavera do Leste, where one of its industrial plants was inaugurated, Cargill signed an agreement with the city to create a social area for young people 13-20 years of age. This project, planned for construction in 2010, is the creation of an educational and environmental center that will contribute to the local community by sharing concepts and good environmental practices and organizing events aimed at professional qualification.
The programs Fura-Bolo and “grain by grain” completed, respectively, ten and five years, with much to celebrate.
Fura-BoloFura-Bolo is developed in partnership with local government and Departments of Education in 13 cities and eight states and aims to contribute to the improvement of basic education through children’s literature, distributing books written for students between 2nd and 5th grades. These activities promote the recovery of popular culture and stimulate the pleasure of reading. The program distributes the Fura-Bolo Collection, consisting of specific books and teaching material for activities in the classroom. Using these resources, students can create folk songs, games, rhymes, poems, and recipes of typical dishes, thus reviving popular culture. Each year, 2,000 teachers are trained through this initiative and rely on the support of volunteers from Cargill in various activities, such as city parades, culture weeks, and aid in the classroom in an interactive and enjoyable manner. In 2009, the book “O Brasil de Todos Nós” (Brazil of All of Us) was published. Dubbed Cargill’s folklore book, the volume, was added to the program and is intended for elementary school students in 4th grade (and 5th graders in the new cycle). With a variety of text styles, the work revives Brazilian folklore using music, comics, and folk songs. A workbook for students and proposed pedagogical activities designed for teachers was also created. During this year, Fura-Bolo reached two new cities: Porto Ferreira (in the state of São Paulo) and São Miguel do Iguaçu (in the state of Paraná).
“Grain by grain”
The “grain-by-grain” program uses teaching materials to focus on concepts of family farming and safe food with public school students in nine cities and seven states. They learn concepts ranging from food hygiene to post-harvest of vegetables and greens grown in school gardens. In all of the participating schools, Cargill implemented gardens so that the students could put into practice what they learned in the classroom. The Cargill Foundation provides the resources needed for cultivation, which includes the land, seeds, tools, technical support team, and support of volunteer employees throughout the year. The products harvested can be used in school meals to give them more nutritional value. Teachers are trained by a specialized team and the children receive a book and an activity notebook depending on their grade level. Lunch ladies also participate in the program; they are trained every year by a nutritionist and receive pedagogical material on safe food. The initiative also includes meeting with the families of students so that they also learn the concepts communicated in the program and receive guidance on how to plant a garden at their home.
In ten years the “Fura-bolo” program has helped approximately 460,000 children and distributed more than 1 million books. Already in its five years of existence, the “grain by grain” program has helped 10,000 teachers, 2,500 lunch ladies, and 200,000 students, resulting in the production of around 600 tons of food.
| Fura-Bolo | “Grain by grain” | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | |
| Students benefited | 46.128 | 54.485 | 42.135 | 51.848 |
| Participating cities | 13 | 15 | 09 | 12 |
| Participating states | 08 | 08 | 07 | 07 |
| Participating schools | 135 | 144 | 110 | 135 |
| Educators trained | 2000 | 2113 | 1473 | 2022 |
| Books distributed | 46.128 | 54.485 | 42.135 | 51.848 |
| Workbooks distributed (student and teacher) | 48.128 | 56.598 | 43.608 | 53.870 |
| Lunch ladies trained | NA | NA | 430 | 484 |
The following activities were held within the scope of both programs:
“Fura-Bolo” Cultural Contest – In celebration of the program’s ten years, 46,000 children were invited to participate by drawing or writing a poem on the theme “A Different Folk Tale”. The students were divided into two categories: the 2nd and 3rd graders presented drawings and the 4th and 5th graders poems. There were two winners per category (one per grade).
“Grain by grain” Cultural Contest – In celebration of the program’s five years, the children of Cargill’s employees were invited to write a comic strip with the theme “A Garden Party, Mr. Grain by Grain is five years old”. The comic strips were pre-selected by company regional units and reviewed by a committee at Cargill’s headquarters in São Paulo. This committee, made up of employees from different areas, received training on this theme in order to aid them while evaluating the comic strips received.
Libraries and Reading Areas – This year, thanks to funds raised in the 2007 campaign “One Day for the Future”, six reading areas were opened in different cities where Cargill does business (Ilhéus, Porto Velho, Porto Ferreira, Três Lagoas, Sorriso, and Barreiras). The places benefited were chosen by means of a Public Library Revitalization or of Reading Area Contest and the judging commission was made up of employees from different departments at the company’s headquarters.
