News Snippets
• A coalition of environmental advocacy groups based in the UK participated in a weeklong protest outside the London headquarters of the major grocery chain, Sainsbury. Activists gathered every morning from June 13-17 to remind Sainsbury of its pledge to discontinue sale of genetically modified milk, meats and other food products.
• A new report by the British NGO ActionAid has taken the Indian tea industry to task for treating its workers unfairly. Tea Break: a crisis brewing in India , argues that despite large profits being reaped by companies such as Hindustan Lever and Tata Tea, working and living conditions for plantation workers have dropped dramatically in recent years. Action Aid activists interviewed tea workers throughout the country in 2004 and 2005 to conclude that labourers are now being paid less, while they do more work. The findings also describe a recent jump in malnourishment amongst children of the workers.