Fiji Water: So cool, so fresh, so bad for the environment?
Filed under: Economy
The story of Fiji Water, as detailed in a startling investigative piece in Mother Jones magazine this month, seems familiar. Leafing through the story, I found myself trying to remember where I'd read this tale before; like an old melody at the back of my brain, it hovered, just beyond memory. Suddenly it came to me: it's Dole, it's United Fruit, it's West Indies Sugar Corporation, it's the old, old story. A company located in a lush, tropical location with a totalitarian government that welcomes foreign interests with deep pockets. It doesn't tax them, gives them access to the country's most precious natural resources, and stands by with heavy artillery in hand, protecting them while they strip the country.
What makes this story so difficult to swallow is how eagerly the U.S. seems to have embraced Fiji's co-owners Stewart and Lynda Resnick. On this side of the Pacific, the pair cheerfully line the pockets of any political figure in sight (they supported both McCain and Obama in the past election) while selling Fiji's best, cleanest water at a huge profit. On the other side of the ocean, the people of Fiji suffer under terrible water conditions that have led to outbreaks of typhoid and parasitic infections.
It appears that America adores the Resnicks: Lynda brags that she knows "everyone in the world, every mogul, every movie star." These relationships have proven handy, as the Resnicks have reaped $1.5 million a year in water subsidies for their almond, pistachio and pomegranate crops in the U.S.
These agricultural water subsidies must be viewed in context: the stress from travelling to pollinate the almond "monoculture" crops like the ones the Resnicks grow, along with the pesticides they sell, are considered to be some of the major reasons that bees are succumbing to colony collapse disorder. And the Resnicks control an enormous amount of California water infrastructure that was built by public funds. They have a 48 percent interest in the Kern Water Bank, which was meant to collect water from aqueducts and the Kern River and to redistribute this water in times of drought.
So the Resnicks are not known for their even-handedness with politicians or water, and their practices in the U.S. are not the greenest of all possible greens. In fact, they could share responsibility for many of our environmental woes. They could have a hand in California's future water shortages, during which they could profit gloriously. All the while, they are loudly and proudly marketing Fiji Water as the most environmentally friendly bottled water company in the world.
This, of course, is not saying much. Bottled water is notorious for its position in top five lists of "what not to do" for the planet. One day, future civilizations will look back on this decade and wonder in disbelief why it was that we pumped water out of one part of the planet, encased it in plastic, then encased it again for shipping, and spent many many non-renewable resources to bring it to another part of the planet where clean water was already plentiful. It's patently ridiculous.
The story is disturbing because of the truths it tells us about ourselves and our society. It's not just the water thing. It's the marketing. Lynda Resnick has been repeatedly described as a marketing genius for her ability to transform Fiji Water into a must-have accessory for environmentally-conscious celebrities and politicians, despite its heavy use of plastic and questionable commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. And oh, we are drinking the marketing at far greater rates than we are drinking the water. Our celebrities both enormous (Obama, Paris, and their ilk) and minor (the geekarati at the SXSW festival) can't live without it. So neither can we. Whatever celebrities sell us? YUM. Damn the consequences.
It's troubling, at the end of the story, that the company is not, as Anna Lenzer writes in her follow-up to the story (after Fiji Water spokesman Rob Six defended his company) doing anything about the military junta now controlling Fiji. "A UN official . . . in a recent commentary . . . singled out Fiji Water as the one company with enough leverage to force the junta to budge."
The commentary, by the way, was titled "Why Obama should stop drinking Fiji water."
Update: A spokesman for Roll International Corporation, the parent company of Fiji Water, contacted DailyFinance, claiming that there are factual errors in the piece. Roll International maintains that Fiji Water is not profitable, and that the company does not receive subsidies from the state of California.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 35)
8-24-2009 @ 5:01PM
tom said...
Since when do our natural recourses belong to anyone .They belong to the tax paying citizens of this country. It's time to read the constitution of this county and get "our" rights back .
Get rid of the corrupt politicians for god sake .We are killing our planet and everybody on it. Especially our children. Wake up America. Vote for your rights or next we will have to fight for them like our forefathers did!!!!!!!!!!
A good example of this is when Russia's Putin cut off the heating oil to his own countrymen in the middle of winter!!!
Reply
8-25-2009 @ 2:15PM
Thomas Brodmaker said...
Why do I have to pay taxes to get access these resources? I made my fortune early in life & have never felt that I should have to pay any taxes. I feel I deserve the same access as you to these natural resources. I also believe that Fiji should keep on doing what there doing and so should every other company doing similar things. Not our fault that these countries have such horrid government!!!
8-25-2009 @ 2:42PM
Dustin said...
Actually natural resources belong to who ever owns the land they are located on. That is one of the reasons the "takings clause" is in the Constitution. it prevents the goverment from seize you land just becuase you have a resource they want.
Furthermore if you will check your state constitution you will probally find articles guranteeing mineral and resource rights to the individual.
8-25-2009 @ 2:58PM
Gena said...
Tom, you are so right on. So, tell me.. I am govermentally inept.. What do I need to do to see that the natrual springs are the property of the tax payers ?? I agree with everything you said and you said it well.
Just wanted you to know.
Thanks,
Gena.
8-26-2009 @ 1:18AM
E.M.Hamid said...
Bravo! well said. Am with you all the way! about time "WE THE PEOPLE."........ take control of our destiny and fire all the corrupt politicians who plunder from us Tax paying, voting,law abiding, hard working CITIZEN
8-25-2009 @ 3:16PM
Obenone2010 said...
Come on ladies and gents the whole world has problems including us. So why should i be concerned about buying water from fiji? There are bigger issues to deal with really. Our whole way of life is unsustainable lol. So while i ponder the deeper things in life ..you guys keep discussing why we should or shouldnt buy water from fiji.
8-25-2009 @ 3:51PM
glen said...
I am amazed how some people are always ready and willing to give away somebody else's property and rights. I guess it's a good thing we have the constitution to protect us. At least so far.
8-25-2009 @ 4:38PM
Dylan said...
Wow. First two people commenting, you're just the people that make our species a disgrace. You're greedy. All you care about is yourself. If it's their propery, it should be thier water, and big companies shouldn't comsume all the resourses these people need to survive just to send it to a country that has enough water to be collected in the first place!
8-25-2009 @ 4:46PM
Chuck said...
I believe the article was commenting on the Naturral Resources, Taxation and Poverty of FiJi ....Not the USA
8-25-2009 @ 5:02PM
Michael said...
Ummm....Tom? This has nothing to do with America's "rights." Did you get anything out of this article at all?
8-25-2009 @ 5:07PM
anidee said...
I totally agree...."get rid of the corrupt politicians"..........but where do we find some that are not corrupt? I'm beginning to think that there is no other kind!
8-25-2009 @ 5:06PM
Annoyed said...
Buddy, don't start bringing up stuff you clearly don't know about. I support your message right until you drag Putin into it. It wasn't his countrymen, it was a neighboring country that Russia had sold oil to. The country wasn't paying them back so yes, he cut off the supply in winter. Who cares if you cut off the heat in summer? It wasn't some corrupt tactic or some cruel communist dictator crushing the little people, it was a smart business move. If you want to make an example of one, use an example you've researched first.
8-25-2009 @ 5:13PM
Green Hills said...
Hey Tom...your county has a constitution...pretty cool...
8-25-2009 @ 6:21PM
Lisa said...
Well said Tom. This makes me sick. I drink this water every day. It stops now. I will find something else. I have a well and find the water nasty so I can't drink from the tap for anyone who is wondering.
8-25-2009 @ 6:29PM
FRED said...
I didn't know there was a county constitution does it over-ride the US constitution?
8-25-2009 @ 6:32PM
tom Williams said...
Your assuming that the government is still of the people, by the people, and for the people.
8-25-2009 @ 7:04PM
dan said...
our constitution has long been through out of your goverments thinking, just look at the supreme courts rulings and u should find this to be tru what ppl need ta do and a lo arejust now starting to do it is rise up and protest against these polititions who dont care about anything but how much money they can make THANK YOU.
8-25-2009 @ 7:30PM
Norm Seavey said...
That's a great comment and very true. I do not use any bottled water for so called healthy living, why you might ask? Very simple, it's your own city water unfiltered with fancy labels to get you to buy, Mountain Fresh & so on. We have our own water purifiers that no one else has & our technology is second to no other company. I can not say my company name as it would be advertising. On the other hand you can email me with questions about clean water. Bottled water not only puts harmful chemicals in your body that can lead to cancer from the plastic it also creates hazardous waste in our landfills that doesn't go away which also pollutes our ground water, thus a recurring cycle of contamination for generations of families to come. Birth Defects in infant babies are becoming more common place and there entails the FDA and more DRUGS to destroy life further. It's Time To Clean Up Our Act America One House Hold At A Time. If the issues of water is not enough to scare families then I'm at a loss to know what would for without clean pure water we as a people cease to exist. Give me an email, I would like to know what you think is the best direction to follow.
Norm Seavey
Massachusetts
email hotjenday@aol.com
8-25-2009 @ 7:57PM
Gadfly said...
Tom, Thomas--your misspellings are the same--it's "resources"--You should read the excellent article in Vanity Fair. I did. You are being poisoned by polluters, with a bottling plant running on diesel fuel. They are long-time scam artists who are ripping you and Fiji off while depriving the natives of clean water while you are merrily swilling it.
8-25-2009 @ 8:11PM
Jim said...
Dustin, The State of Florida owns ALL mineral rights in the state. Individual propeety owners hve no mineral rights as per my 3 property deeds.