 This paper examines the exclusion of public health from social license narratives within an increasingly financialized food system. The potential for negative social and environmental impacts has prompted awareness of the need for financial actors to demonstrate sustainability, responsibility and accountability in their farmland investments. Instead, agribusiness firms use narratives centered on biofuels investment and energy slash food security to justify their legitimacy in the sugar sector. This article was authored by Kea Smith and Jeffrey Lawrence.