Soft Drink Boycott

If you’ve read my entire post on the Chest Pains, then you know one of my reasons for boycotting certain products….one of which is Soft Drinks....or rather, the Gum Arabic that goes in soft drinks. Anyway, my 2nd reason for the soft drink boycott is in reference to the crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan.

Last week, I read an article that listed the top ten dictators on the globe. One of them is Omar Al-Bashir. The article states, “Under Bashir’s rule, the Darfur region of Sudan continues to be the site of a violent power struggle among government forces and allied militia, rebels and bandits. In 2007, Bashir ordered aerial bombing raids that killed dozens of civilians. While Bashir did appoint an official to investigate the human-rights situation in Darfur, the appointee himself has been suspected of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.”

This same article also reveals that the U.S. Link to Sudan and Omar is “The U.S. government has harshly criticized the abuses in Sudan. The Clinton Administration issued trade sanctions in 1997, but it exempted gum arabic, which is used in products ranging from soft drinks and candy to shoe polish and stamps. The U.S. still imports more than 4000 tons of the substance from Sudan annually.”

Some other articles I read that affect my decision.
http://www1.american.edu/TED/gumarab.htm
http://www.amnestyusa.org/darfur/page.do?id=1351050

My first thought upon reading this is that I’m always hearing about the crimes against humanity over there and while I disagree with our government sticking their noses where it doesn’t belong, I do feel sympathetic and would like to do something to help those poor people. I decided that I would no longer support those atrocities with my purchase of soft drinks. Of course, I’ll have to find a way to combat my withdrawal. Arrgggh!

Thanks for reading and feel free to share your thoughts.