Palm oil - evil, and causing bad chocolate
Hi all, I'm making a bit of a shameless plug here against the palm oil industry, one of the leading causes of rainforest destruction in Indonesia, which, other than destroying ecosystems and generally screwing up the environment, results in habitat destruction for a number of severely endangered species, including orangutans.
For a long time, as well as scouring ingredients lists for animal products, I have looked out for palm oil and avoided it wherever possible, I really don't want to be a part of the death and destruction of one of our closest animal relatives.
Part of the problem is that manufacturers often hide their palm oil usage behind other names, such as generic 'vegetable oil', cocoa butter equivalent (CBE), cocoa butter substitute (CBS), palm olein and palm stearine.
An increasingly big issue here at the moment is that the biggest chocolate manufacturer has recently added palm oil to their chocolate, making it less healthy, and taste more like environmental death. Yeah, I know it's milk chocolate, non-vegan, and we wouldn't buy it anyway - BUT I don't think that should prevent anyone from making a stand against unethical practices.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10580531
So anyway, one of my former colleagues is making a big push to help get the ingredients changed, through talking to the news, writing letters incessantly, starting a petition and, of course the obligatory facebook group.
The latter two are where I ask for anyone who is equally unimpressed with this situation to help out and join the fight.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=99560141028#/group.php?gid=99560141028.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/188942569
I agree with you about palm oil. Damn Cadbury!
I know, right? I mean, I don't even like chocolate, milk or otherwise, but this sort of thing just pisses me off. They've recently been voted one of the most trusted brand names in the country, and they go and sneak an insidious, unnecessary, environmentally destructive ingredient into their products, which doesn't even improve the taste, and then refuse to listen to their 'trusting' consumers. Gah!! it just makes me so mad.
What about Earth Balance? I've heard conflicting things about it. Colleen Patrick-Goudreaux mentioned in one of her podcasts that EB uses ethical and sustainable practices in harvesting their palm oil. I haven't done any research...just curious if anyone else has.
What about Earth Balance? I've heard conflicting things about it. Colleen Patrick-Goudreaux mentioned in one of her podcasts that EB uses ethical and sustainable practices in harvesting their palm oil. I haven't done any research...just curious if anyone else has.
Yes, I wondered about it, too, but I do very much trust Colleen's research. Here is a quote from her article on the topic:
"I can’t speak more highly about Earth Balance; they don’t only make delicious spreads – but they’re genuinely concerned about the source of their ingredients. For instance, they get their Palm Oil, one of the oils in their blend, from Peninsular Malaysia for their original spread), and from a Brazilian company for the Organic Whipped – a company that Earth Balance considers to be "the most responsible, sustainable and ethical producer of palm oil on the planet." I really appreciate their commitment to ethical practices, and I really appreciate their commitment to making delicious non-dairy butter!"
That's all that I really know about it.
Yes! That is what I heard her say too! I hope it's true! I heart her. :)>>>
Is palm oil really that bad? They sell big jars of it at the local food co-op. I kinda thought about cooking with it. Should I not?
Generally, palm oil (from the fruit) is better for you than palm kernel oil (from the pit/seed). Palm oil has less saturated fat and more healthy fats.
For palm kernel oil, the oil from the pit can't be just squeezed out; they have to use a hydrocarbon solvent. After that, it's fractionated to make it more solid (it's heated it and cooled to seperate the liquid and solid layers). This is opposed to the hydrogenation process to make oil more solid (hydrogen is added, which increases the trans fats). Hydrogenated oil is less expensive to manufacture, so it's in a lot of things. Between fractionated and hydrogenated, fractionated oil is better for you, but either way, there are solvents involved in the palm kernel oil process.
I remember there being a response to what EB said was better/the best palm oil practices, which was that the "best" was not really that great (i.e., the most sustainable campfire still burns wood... probably), and anything that involves harvesting palm oil means rainforest destruction. Sure, you could avoid the most delicate habitats and go to other parts of the rainforest, but it's still the rainforest.
Something like that.
What sucks about this whole palm oil thing is that it seems to be a lot more popular now that hydrogenated oils are taboo, and it's being substituted for them (there's palm oil in my oreos :-\). I don't know if companies will readily let go of this ingredient if they just spent time and money reformulatng their products to include it. i wonder if coconut oil would be an equivalent and more sustainable choice?
In terms of the environment, palm oil is cultivated in rain forest areas, so there's deforestation issues. Southeast Asia has issues with deforestation associated with palm oil crops and the Amazon is facing the same issue, but I don't think it's at the same scale yet in the Amazon. Another problem, if I remember correctly, is that palms are a crop that require a massive amount of pesticides and fertilizers. Brazil doesn't have a good track record with sustainability associated with regulating polluted runoff and I'm not sure if it's on their radar in SE Asia. From what I've read, the workers spray pesticides with little to no personal protective equipment, using chemicals that have been banned in the US.
I forgot what the term is when you work for a boss man who gives you credit at the general store between paydays. The general store has totally sky high prices, so when you get paid, you owe all of your money back to the boss man and there's none left for you? Whatever that's called, it's rampant in palm crops between growers and distributors. Big business sells the plants, pesticides, and fertilizers to the growers at super high prices and then buys the products at super deflated prices, and then sometimes also want a percent of the grower's profit. That keeps the growers in SE Asia poor, but I think the slave labor issues happen more in Brazil.