Day 284 - 22 Oct 96 - Page 30


     
     1        with there.
     2
     3        And then he goes on on page 50, line 8, to say:  In Costa
     4        Rica, where the first McDonald's restaurant was opened in
     5        1970, some of the land on which the beef was raised had
     6        been rainforest up to the 1960s, whilst other cattle
     7        growing areas in that country from which the beef had come,
     8        had not been rainforest since the 1900s.
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Which page is that?
    11
    12   MR. MORRIS:   This is page 50.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Well, that was reflected in the evidence,
    15        was it not?
    16
    17   MR. MORRIS:   Yes.  Oh yes.
    18
    19   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Whether I accept the evidence or not, that
    20        was what was said about that land.
    21
    22   MR. MORRIS:   Yes.  I mean, Mr. Cesca had it in his statement
    23        and Edie Bensilum had it in her statement.  In fact, this
    24        is relevant to the meaning of the word rainforest.  If I
    25        could find Edie Bensilum's statement - (Pause) - she does
    26        say on the last page of her statement, page 5, by the way,
    27        just while I have this in front of me:  I informed Mr. Rose
    28        that farm supplying McDonald's in Costa Rica were
    29        established between 1920 to 1960.  Most of them, and I
    30        underline "most", being established in the 1950s.  Well, it
    31        was not quite....  Anyway, there was evidence from
    32        Mr. Carrier about that matter about continuing
    33        deforestation on established farms.
    34
    35        Mr. Rampton then referred to the 1992 letter - this is page
    36        53 - and he reads it out on his first day.  I have not got
    37        the letter in front of me but I have Mr. Rampton's reading
    38        out of it, when from McDonald's Corporation, about the
    39        destruction of Amazonia.
    40
    41   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Which year do you say the letter is?
    42
    43   MR. MORRIS:   That is the 1992 letter.
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The one you referred to yesterday?
    46
    47   MR. MORRIS:   Yes, the letter to Mr. Hooper from Elizabeth
    48        Densmore.  I note that she talks about Brazilian beef in
    49        general and she starts off:  Thank you for seeking
    50        clarification about McDonald's position regarding the 
    51        clearing of tropical rainforests.  We share your concern 
    52        about this environmental issue, et cetera, et cetera. 
    53
    54        It goes on about the greatest cause of deforestation and
    55        the largest percentages down to cattle ranching.  And then
    56        she says -- but she is talking about deforestation of the
    57        Brazilian Amazon.  And then she goes on to talk about the
    58        importance of rainforest to the ecology of South America
    59        has been well documented.  We believe that our policy helps
    60        to enable its preservation by restricting demand for

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