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Palm Oil Protest

6 Pledges
  • Start Date:
    3-1-2008
  • Last Pledge:
    8-13-2008

Issue:

Growing Palm Oil Deforests Endangered Species Habitat

Belief:

The Wests seemingly inexhaustable demand for Palm Oil is leading to the deforestation of the habitats of  endangered Orangutans of Borneo.

Palm Oil is a product that YOU consume on an almost daily basis. It is used in consumer products as diverse as:margarine, shortening, baked goods, and candies.

There is medical evidence that Palm Oil is a promotor of Heart Disease - it is certainly bad for wildlife in Indonesia. Large tracts of forest are cut down and ploughed under to create farming areas for production of Palm Oil. These forest are the ancient and natural habitats of one of Planet Earth's most threatened species - the Orang Utan.  

Please view these websites for some opinions on the impact Palm Oil is having on the life of endangered species, and by extension, the planet - as well as our individual health and that of the western world. Then make up your own mind. Do you still want to encourage Palm Oil production - do you want to consume it?

Please note: I am in the process of obtaining permission to cite these webpages and my views are not necessarily those of the websites I am directing readers to.

There are alternatives to Palm Oil. The Centre for Science in the Public Interest suggested that manufacturers should use non-hydrogenated soy, canola, corn, and peanut oils as well as more stable oils such as high-oleic sunflower or canola oil, or low-linolenic soybean oil.

http://www.cspinet.org/palm/

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html

I pledge to...

Practically - To scan the products I buy and reject those with Palm Oil in the ingredients list wherever possible

Proactively - To actively speak to my Supermarket Manager and ask him if he/she is aware of the issue and if not, who his Superior is and how I contact that person to make them aware and thereby influence Supermarket Purchasing Policy.

Positively - To sign the following petitions (and any others I become aware of) as a positive way of adding my name to the growing list of concerned consumers who value their health and prospects for endangered species such as Orang Utans.

http://takeaction.cspinet.org/campaign/WalMartPalmOilKills

http://www.orangutan.org.au/palmoil.html

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Forum Discussion for Palm Oil Protest
Submitted by romain r. on Fri, 05/23/2008 - 11:00

Palm oil production is dangerous

Submitted by Wesley S. on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 20:00

Thanks for making this petition Tania, you have found out something that is important to know. I know all animal protection deserve our support, but I would like to post the url for this one in some of my post on other animal rights boards. I wish I could do more than write companies. I notice there is an article from the NY times. Maybe writing reporters directly will cause them to cover this story. I've done that before and it has worked. Worth a try again.

Submitted by Tania L. on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 10:01

Hi Wesley
Apologies for not replying earlier. Life is a bit full on at present. I have been deeply heartened by your posts and those of the other wonderful people who have followed my petition. Your ideas will keep me busy for a very long time. I salute you my friend.
One of the biggest supporters of Orangutans in the UK is the well known author Terry Pratchett, who donates the fee from all personal appearances to The Orangutan Foundation. PLEASE support Terry and the Orang Foundation by buying and reading his books - which are masterpieces of wit and erudition. Made all the more poigniant by the the fact that he has recently been diagnosed with an irriversable brain condition.
Keep fighting the fight - I am right there with you. Tania

Submitted by Wesley S. on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 01:15

I was distressed to find that my favourite microwave popcorn contains palm oil. In Canada, ingredients have to be listed in order of amount. The ingredient which is the largest must be listed first, the ingredient which is next largest amount is second on the list and so on. Palm oil is listed second which means it is the second largest amount used in the product. Perhaps we can share a product at a time and give the mailing address and each send a letter.

We could also develop a generic letter that can be used for all products. I have found old fashioned snail mail with your name and address has the most effect. Although you have to weigh it against paper use, but in this case I think it warrants it. A hard-copy letter makes the company respond and a lot of hard copy letters is something they can see. Orville's is owned by ConAgra foods, which I hope means that ConAgra will consisder making the change so that it should be easy for ConAgra to make the change (one can hope can't I). ps I apologize in advance for Canadian spelling and any other misspellings, I composed this letter here and will send it off in a day or two. (P) means paragraph. I'll post a sentence or two of any response I get.

Corporate Headquarters 402-595-4000
ConAgra Foods Inc.
One ConAgra Drive
Omaha, NE 68102-5001

Dear ConAgra Foods:

(P)My favourite microwave popcorn has always been Orville Redenbacher's popcorn. I was distressed to see that your product uses palm oil in your product and that it was the second most used ingredient in your microwave popcorn.

The use of palm oil is resulting in the deforestation of Borneo and threatening the habitat of the Orangatan. Orangatans are an endagered species and are currently on the "Extremely Threatened" list. There used to be five sub-species of Orangatans or these two species are extinct and a third only has 7000 animals left.
(P) There are many other food oils that can be used and are readily available. One of your competitors, the microwave popcorn I buy now uses soy oil, which I understand is grown in the United States. The use of soy oil or any other food oil would not only help save the habit of the Orangatan but an American farmer as well.
(P) I hope that your company will stop using Palm Oil in all your products and that I will be able to enjoy Orville Redenbacker's microwave popcorn again.

Sincerly Yours,

My Name
My Address

ps. the following websites contains information about the use of palm oil and orangatans http://www.orangutan.com/ and http://www.orangutan.org.au/palmoil.html

Submitted by Wesley S. on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 01:21

ps, don't forget to use the widget above in your other wanderings on the internet. I have to admit the concept of YouChoose.net seems like a great idea and I think YouChoose.net is a great platform for cruelty to animal issues and ecological issues. There are million websites, but they don't show up when you do a search anymore because Yahoo! and Google! are programmed to put commercial sites that pay them a fee first. Often volunteer sites don't show up at all. The widget seems to me it might be a great way to find other likeminded people.

Submitted by Wesley S. on Thu, 03/13/2008 - 22:41

I did my first major grocery shopping trip today, looking at my favorite brands and foods to see if they contained palm oil was actually interesting. There were a couple of surprises, I love Orville Redenbacker microwave popcorn -- palm oil. So I had to buy another brand. I still have the last box so I'll write Orville Redenbacker. I love a certain brand of pita bread, my brand had palm oil, the other the brand sold in the store sold didn't. My favourite bread didn't have it. Two of the three candy bars I like had it, thankfully the third one uses soy oil. Frozen food was a bit tricky, I thought I'd have to give up frozen Thai food from Thailand, but they used corn oil, not palm oil, which I thought kind of strange but I was glad I didn't have to give up the Thai entrees I like. Alas Spring Break ends tomorrow and it's back to the daily grind. It will take awhile to get to know what contains palm oil and what doesn't in the vending machines.

Submitted by rebecca h. on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 22:24

i didnt know that

Submitted by Wesley S. on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 23:13

Here is another website about helping the Orangutans. Please also look at the website posted in the petition. One has an excellent suggestion. Every food product you buy has an consumer address on it where you can write your comments about the product and ask for additional information. The suggestion is that whenever you see the words "palm oil" to write the company and tell how the use of palm oil is destroying the habitats of the Orangutan. You could write one letter in your word processor and then just type in the new address for each letter you send. I think if enough people did this it would help the Orangutans.

http://www.orangutan.com/

Also don't forget about the YouChoose.Net Widget which is just above where it says "Share this Link." You can post it in your Blog. I saw the Demo 08 film and the widget blew me away. When someone posts about Orangatans anywhere on the web, it brings that post to you and you can respond. The widget creates a community of people who care about Orangutans by cutting accross the borders of the internet. It increases your outreaches to dozens perhaps even hundred of other websites!

Submitted by Wesley S. on Sat, 03/08/2008 - 00:05

I did some research. Palm oil is far less healthy for you than other food oils. The most healthy is olive oil. But most of the other good food oil is grown in the United States, mostly from soybeans, which I believe tofu is made of (but I'm not 100 percent sure. Most food oils are grown in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kansas. So when you check a product you not only help save the habitat of the Orangatans, you help an American farmer too. The amount of food oils they produce is more than enough to meet the world's demands. There is no need to use Palm oil and from what I read, I'm not sure why, but health food experts all seemed to think that palm oil was not good for you. So by checking you may be doing yourself a favour as well.

Submitted by Wesley S. on Sat, 03/08/2008 - 21:23

Relative Healthiness of Palm oil compared to other food oils:
Palm oil is used around the world in such foods as margarine, shortening, baked goods, and candies. Biomedical research indicates that palm oil, which is high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat, promotes heart disease. Though less harmful than partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, it is far more conducive to heart disease than such heart-protective liquid oils as olive, soy, and canola. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, World Health Organization, and other health authorities have urged reduced consumption of oils like palm oil.

Submitted by Kenya d. on Tue, 03/04/2008 - 03:14

thank you !! I wil now check everything I purchase and inform others on palm oil and its effects on our world. There is so much we don't know, thank you for telling us about this.

Submitted by Wesley S. on Mon, 03/03/2008 - 23:52

Hi Tania, thanks for letting us know about this. I didn't know about it. From now on I will be checking my labels to see if they contain palm oil. And I will write. I didn't realize that there were so many different oils that could be used instead of palm oil. I'm not a farmer, but don't United States farmers grow things that produce oils by the megaton? Besides olive oil from the Mediterranian, I previously though all food type oils were grown in the U.S. On the endangered species list, Orangutans are on the extremely threatened list. Apparently there used to be five sub-species of Orangatans, but now two subspecies are already extinct and one the three remaining subspecies has only 7,000 left.

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