Greenwashing: the colonial logic of iFood’s sustainability agenda

Abstract

Introduction: This study mobilizes decolonial theories to investigate how corporate sustainability agendas intersect with the exploitation of platformized labor through strategies of greenwashing, functioning as a colonial version of false sustainability.

 Objective: This article analyzes iFood's sustainability initiatives, assessing whether they have a genuine impact on the environment and how these initiatives relate to the working conditions of delivery personnel.

Methodology: This investigation utilized the advertising materials produced by iFood, in conjunction with specialized journalistic reports on the subject. Case studies of four sustainability initiatives promoted by iFood were presented and analyzed alongside relevant literature on platformization, sustainability, and coloniality.

Results: Our analysis revealed that iFood does not materially contribute to sustainability efforts. In fact, its initiatives tend to transfer all costs and risks to its partners, particularly the restaurants and, more significantly, to the delivery workers, who are compelled to expend part of their physical health, financial stability, and personal safety to accommodate the "benefits" of these programs in their daily work.

Conclusion: We conclude that iFood engages in greenwashing, failing to provide any real contributions while exploiting its delivery personnel both physically and financially.

KEYWORDS: coloniality; greenwashing; platformization; sustainability.