On her recent visit to India, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi detailed how PepsiCo had created two lakh jobs and announced doubling investment in India. In a land rich in indigenous drinks such as panna, nimbu pani, sattu, bel ras, jal jeera and healthy snacks, Pepsi has, in fact, destroyed livelihoods in cottage industry and artisanal processing sector.
For example, 50,000 women in Bikaner made handmade bhujia. Today PepsiCo makes industrially processed bhujia and 50,000 women’s livelihood has been destroyed. If one adds livelihoods lost by such destruction we are talking of millions thrown into the ocean of unemployment. This is why in Navdanya we have created the Mahila Anna Swaraj movement to protect livelihoods in artisanal processing of healthy foods.
