In most countries around the world the food on the table is likely to contain something produced, processed or traded by a certain American company few people have heard of. With its headquarters shrouded in private woodland in a suburb of Minneapolis in the American Mid-West, Cargill is the world's largest private company - and one of the most secretive.
Founded 150 years ago as a grain trader, the descendants of its two Scottish families still control most of the stock. Ten members are on the 2015 Forbes list of billionaires. Operating in over sixty countries, Cargill exercises an extraordinary influence on the global food chain.
The company champions free trade and claims that its aim is to 'nourish the world'. But there is a dark, hidden world behind these slogans. Reports have appeared of the use of child slave labour in Africa and Central Asia; deforestation in Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia; and profiting from speculation while millions starve. For The Ghost at the Feast, journalist David Pallister has spent five years peeling away the layers of secrecy to reveal the truth behind this monolithic enterprise.
- ISBN13 9780745336206
- Publish Date 20 April 2050 (first published 20 October 2016)
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Pluto Press
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 240
- Language English