The Blight on Palm Oil
Jun. 28th, 2014 05:33 pmToday, I looked at the ingredients of some Lindt Hello chocolate I had bought at the store.
To my horror, it contained palm oil.
For those unfamiliar with it, palm oil is yet another foreign product that first-world countries have latched upon, and thus significantly increased the demand for. Last time it was quinoa, which likely was not as bad as feared.
Palm oil, on the other hand, is used in multiple industries, many of them large-scale (ex. soap). To meet this demand, rainforests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Colombia are being removed to plant the palm trees. Needless to say, this has a disastrous effect on an already fragile environment.
As if that weren't enough, there is also evidence that the big companies running these plantations are threatening and evicting indigenous populations from their native lands, leaving them displaced from their livelihood and home. We don't need to look across the oceans to know how badly that goes.
I sent Lindt an online request to consider not using palm oil. I encourage all of you to do the same for any company that you buy from that uses it. You're welcome to use this:
( Letter here )
Changing it to fit your company, of course.
There are enough awful things going on in the world. We don't need to make it worse by demanding things that aren't necessary. Chocolate in particular is already mired in rainforest destruction; there is no need to add palm oil to the problem.
Feel free to signal boost this.
Tschuess.
To my horror, it contained palm oil.
For those unfamiliar with it, palm oil is yet another foreign product that first-world countries have latched upon, and thus significantly increased the demand for. Last time it was quinoa, which likely was not as bad as feared.
Palm oil, on the other hand, is used in multiple industries, many of them large-scale (ex. soap). To meet this demand, rainforests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Colombia are being removed to plant the palm trees. Needless to say, this has a disastrous effect on an already fragile environment.
As if that weren't enough, there is also evidence that the big companies running these plantations are threatening and evicting indigenous populations from their native lands, leaving them displaced from their livelihood and home. We don't need to look across the oceans to know how badly that goes.
I sent Lindt an online request to consider not using palm oil. I encourage all of you to do the same for any company that you buy from that uses it. You're welcome to use this:
( Letter here )
Changing it to fit your company, of course.
There are enough awful things going on in the world. We don't need to make it worse by demanding things that aren't necessary. Chocolate in particular is already mired in rainforest destruction; there is no need to add palm oil to the problem.
Feel free to signal boost this.
Tschuess.