If you’re thirsty and want or need a drink of water you should have to pay for it according to the former CEO and now Chairman of Nestle SA, the largest food product manufacturer in the world.
An article published on peacefulwarriors.net by Anthony Gucciardi, the Editor of Natural Society, claims that in a recent video interview reported on by the website Corporate Watch, Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said he believes corporations should own every drop of water on the planet, adding that it is a commodity that should not be free nor viewed as a basic human right.
Gucciardi wrote that Nestle “goes into struggling rural areas and extracts the groundwater for their bottled water products, completely destroying the water supply of the area without any compensation. In fact, they actually make rural areas in the United States foot the bill” .
Quoting a report on the Corporate Watch website, he said Nestle and Brabeck-Letmathe’s history of “disregarding public health and abusing the environment to take part in the profit of an astounding $35 billion in annual profit from water bottle sales alone” goes back many years.
“Nestlé production of mineral water involves the abuse of vulnerable water resources. In the Serra da Mantiqueira region of Brazil, home to the “circuit of waters” park whose groundwater has a high mineral content and medicinal properties, over-pumping has resulted in depletion and long-term damage.”
While Nestlé sometimes takes action on these issues, such as moving bottling of water out of drought-stricken California, it appears to do so only when publicly exposed. Judging by the attitude of its top executive these moves are purely to sway public perception and not standard corporate policy.
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