All entries for Wednesday 27 January 2010

January 27, 2010

Diary of a Permaculturalist 17: Palm Oil

Writing about web page /ttooulig/entry/diary_of_a_1_2_3_4_5_6_7_8_9_493/

Link from a while back on Unilever suspending palm oil purchases from a particular company. Interesting that they aren't stopping the purchase entirely.

Unilever, which consumes 4 per cent of the total global supply of palm oil for use in products including food spreads, ice cream and toiletries, said it was suspending future purchases from PT Smart, part of the Sinar Mas group over its environmental practices.

Another article I found while digging around points to General Mills, responsible for, among hundreds of other products, Cheerios, is accused of causing deforestation:

RAN says that at least a hundred General Mills products, including goods sold under Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Stovetop Hamburger Helper and Toaster Strudel brands, contain palm oil or palm oil derivatives. RAN is calling for General Mills to commit to buying only responsibly-sourced palm oil.

It would be handy to have a list of products that contain elements grown on lands annexed from rainforests, but that kind of information ain't throwing itself up at me easily. Probably could be sourced from placing like the above-mentioned RAN - Rainforest Action Network - in the US. Trouble is, while the corporations exploiting these resources are globalised through financing, the action networks are localised. I've no idea if there's any kind of hub for international communications for this kind of thing - any thoughts welcome.