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What is the colour of milk these days?

Red maybe?

It is white of course, unless your supplies are flowing straight out of Grace Mugabe’s dairy farm, so says the rabid press and thousands of citizens of that cyberspace community known as Facebook.

Zimbabwe’s first lady has in recent weeks been the subject of her usual staple of uncomplimentary press reports following revelations that Nestlé Zimbabwe has been sourcing 15% of its milk supplies from her Gushungo Dairy Estate in the last eight months.

Zimbabwe, of course, is enjoying a much-needed respite from its trademark economic woes on the back of the formation of a government of national unity (GNU) and the implementation of STERP, an over-the-counter macro-economic aspirin administered on Tendai Biti’s watch, which so far has provided some dramatic relief in the general welfare of the country’s population. But all of that is now under siege in the wake of renewed calls for the reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar, the re-arrest of Roy Bennett and, of course, the recent partial withdrawal by the MDC from the GNU.

A return to the era of organised chaos will be a welcome boon for the grasping elite who, for close to a decade, have engaged themselves fully and unashamedly so in an unmitigated orgy of confiscation and plunder in the name of reversing colonial imbalances and levelling the proverbial playing field. So says the same rabid press. It seems to me that not everyone is too excited to see a sustained resurgence of Zimbabwe, at least not whilst her Gracious Highness and our Illustrious Uncle Bob are still in command.

For all intents and purposes, it still is unpalatable for some to speak of economic recovery when those who are alleged to have destroyed the country remain actively involved in its day-to-day management (or is it mismanagement, if you are a die-hard, see-no-good and do-no-good cynic). They say lending support to the GNU and the recovery process for the mere sake of Zim’s recovery flies in the face of any modern-day compensation system, wherein bad performers are not penalised but instead continue to reap handsome dividends despite their brazen acts of sabotage. But, of course, our governments are not capitalist corporations in the true sense. They are feudal fiefdoms, which for the most part are sustained by a repressive culture of fear and the shedding of innocent blood.

Speaking of blood, it is an open secret that a lot of what we buy and consume today, the world over, is tainted by the blood and sweat of exploited labour and, in many more regretful cases, by the deaths of millions of innocent lives. Therefore, I find it highly hypocritical of the chattering classes to single out Nestlé Zimbabwe for a strong round of boycott action.

If we are to really live up to the strictures of ethical consumerism, we must boycott all products made in the sweat shops of Asia — that, by the way, should encompass most brands of athletic shoes we wear to the gym. In addition to that, we must also boycott all American products — for which the boycott reasons are plenty and include millions of indigenous Red Indians who were massacred and dispossessed of their land en-masse, the same land which today supports America’s $100-billion farm export industry. While we are at it, let us not forget to embargo imports from the Australians who, in the 1800s, waged a campaign of genocide against the native Tasmanian Aboriginals in the so-called Black War. And finally, please let us not have any purchases of timber products that can be traced back to the endangered habitats of the Amazon, where thousands of Indians have paid with their lives to pave way for the exploitation of their beloved forests by heartless commercial crooks.

Until all the above boycotts are fully enforced, I will settle for copious amounts of Grace’s so-called blood milk with my favourite brand of American Kellogs every morning — a cereal staple produced from corn grown on land soaked in innocent Red Indian blood. I will continue this cereal splurge of mine every day, whilst wearing my Asian sweat-shop Adidas trainers, every now and then compulsively glancing at my Swiss-made chronometer (a wrist watch made in a country which, to this day, remains a safe haven for the ill-gotten gains of dictators from all over the world) to check the time and hopefully, my sanity.




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11 Responses to “Blood milk”

If you are going to write crap, at least first research a bit more! Just for one, no indians are killed to make way for farming in the Amazon! Yes, the forest is being mowed down at an insane pace, but that is NOT in the indian reserves. If anything, when anyone enters the reserves to exploit anything, the indians fight back with guns - and so they should!

The rest of the article is fraught with errors and reads like the work of a d-grade matriculant.

(Report abuse)

Dopey on October 25th, 2009 at 2:28 am

Jeremiah - In some ways I agree that there is a hypocrisy regarding the boycott of Grace Mugabe’s milk. There are many products that we use that do not follow an ethical path to our door.

I do not, however, see any substance to your argument to boycott US or Australian products based on the history of their country. You are effectively punishing a generation that lives now for what their ancestors did in a different time when different rules applied. The correct analogy would be for me not to buy Grace Mugabe’s milk because because of the Nguni expansion and expulsion of the Khoisan 2000 years ago. What on earth can Grace Mugabe do about that now? Nothing at all. Your reasoning is illogical and your conclusions unfair.

I would, however, say that to boycott US products for their current incursion into Iraq is a fair option and sends a message to the generation currently engaged in the activity. In that case a boycott makes perfect sense.

Bob Mugabe violently displaced white farmers and took farms, ‘for the people of Zimbabwe’ and instead them to his wife and cronies. Grace is making personal money out of them and the people have seen nothing. That disgusts me and should have disgusted Nestle. I therefore choose to boycott their products. No BarOne for me until a population free of intimidation and violence chooses their own leader for Zimbabwe. Then Nestle will be forgiven.

(Report abuse)

Grant W on October 25th, 2009 at 6:37 am

Dopey, excuse me but what on earth have you been smoking?

Your assertion that “no indians are killed to make way for farming in the Amazon! “ can not go unchallenged. If anything it betrays quite a disturbing level of ignorance on your part.

Tell your ludicrous story to the Enawenê Nawê and the Guaraní tribes in remote Brazil. Tell it especially to the Akuntsu indians, whose tribe now numbers only five members due to the effects of a sustained campaign of deforestation over many generations. (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/decline-of-a-tribe-and-then-there-were-five-1801795.html)

When the Peruvian government decided in June this year to enforce laws aimed at facilitating the opening up of vast tracts of the rain forest to oil drilling, logging and hydroelectric dams, well over 25 indigenous Indians died in the ensuing protest clashes (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/world/americas/06peru.html). What, you want to see pictures Dopey? http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/2009/06/bolivia-and-peru-in-war-of-words-over.html

Finally, if you are going to romanticise the idea of Indians brandishing arrows (its arrows in most instances, not guns as you put it) to defend their lives against outsiders, you need to have your head examined. For one, ask yourself this question, how did the Indians end up in the reserves anyway? Voluntarily? I don’t think so. Turn on the lights Dopey!

(Report abuse)

Jeremiah Kure on October 25th, 2009 at 8:46 am

Hi Jeremiah
The points you make are valid. There has been a lot of abusive behaviour throughout the world.Natives and children the world over have suffered at the hands of greedy capitalists and racist governments.But lets focus on Sa and Zimbabwe.Should we allow abusive capitalists, dictators and the like to run rough shod over the people?

If we support all the evil commercial ventures you speak of, won’t we perish as a Nation?We would become an uncaring, corrupt, exploited sick Nation.

(Report abuse)

Donald on October 25th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

Mr. Kure, (in the Zimbabwean Shona language “Kure” means “far away”!) I find your reasoning rather far fetched.

Slurping up your “….copious amounts of Grace’s so-called blood milk with my favourite brand of American Kellogs every morning….”, whilst wearing your fake Nike trainers from Taiwan and your genuine Rolex is a matter of personal choice.

For their stance to listen to the voices of reason, Nestlé Zimbabwe are on the brink of loosing their investment in the name of “Black Economic Empowerment”. It is for that reason that I will be enjoying Nestlé products once again.

(Report abuse)

Big Fish on October 25th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

A boycott is not a means of historical redress but to stop ongoing oppression and violence.

(Report abuse)

Michael Francis on October 25th, 2009 at 6:42 pm

Surely when describing Grace Mugabe you should not be referring to “her” farm but rather to “her expropriated” farm that has not been released to the suffering masses of Zimbabwe yet… nor is ever likely to be unless there is a new wave of liberation… As for economic recovery forget it. The last time the Changamire State [aka Zimbabwe]’repossessed’the farms of white settlers was back in 1650 after the Battle of Christmas Day drove out the Portuguese settlers and resulted in the breakup of the ‘brazos” farms, after which dairy farming dropped right off the agenda for a few centuries.
The overwhelming bulk of ‘repossessed’ farms expropriated during the past decade have returned to bush and it is moot that they will ever emerge again given current global trends, and the unwillingness of the Zim ruling class, GNU or otherwise, to get their hands dirty with real earth rather than fake currencies.

(Report abuse)

Nicholas on October 26th, 2009 at 8:45 am

I suppose it is rather easy to make commets to justify one stance or the other when one is not directly involved at a grass roots level. Suffice to say that Zimbabwean (poor) that I speak to are elated that the dictator’s wife cannot sell her milk from the stolen cows in her posession

(Report abuse)

Peter on October 26th, 2009 at 10:17 am

If all these people who advocate for a boycott of Grece’s milk really care about the ordinary Zimbos, perhaps they should be concerned about the likely retrenchments due to scaled down production at Nestle. I mean, Grace wouldn’t feel a pinch because she will just move on to something more obscure, like the Marange Diamonds, for example.
Worse still, she might just go for a total grab of the company (Nestle).
For me, perhaps a better option would be to advocate for reperations tax from the proceeds of the sale of her milk. The proceeds i suppose could be used to compensate those who feel displaced by the land grabs

(Report abuse)

DeltaM on October 26th, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Hey I bet you didnt know that Zimbabwe makes ammunition for the Americans to use in Irak. Now that is totally f*u*c*k*e*d up

(Report abuse)

Dave on October 26th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

And meanwhile everyone wants us Zimbabweans to believe that there are no “economic” sanctions on Zimbabwe!

I also think that the Mugabes must be one of a kind. How does one explain that all 400,000+ people who have had farms “expropirated” to them are all “Mugabe’s cronies”!?

Whilst still at it, one contributor above comaplains that most of the farms taken over have gone back to being bush, and the rest still don’t want anything to do with a productive farm, simply because it’s the Mugabes who’re are now using the farms!

As for the chap who claims to speak on behalf of the masses of Zimbabwe, you just make me sick, because you certainly do not speak for anyone, other than yourself. I am Zimbabwean and I support anyone who runs a productive venture, even if only prove that blacs are just as good farmers.

(Report abuse)

D Mudiwa on October 27th, 2009 at 8:52 am

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Jeremiah Kure is a professional working in the corporate governance arena, based in Johannesburg. He is the founder of the Heights We Must Climb movement and a firm believer in a progressive Africa; an Africa not tied to her stereotyped past but one that is steadily reclaiming her dignity and potential in the global space.
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