Palm Oil =(
Posted by faunablues on May 06, 2008 · Member since Aug 2003 · 9655 posts
I was a fan of palm oil at first because it was being used as an alternative to hydrogenated oils, but:
http://www.theproblemwithpalmoil.org/
It seems like there's no solution: hydrogenated oils are bad for us, palm oil is bad for the environment apparently, and what they're both replacing (butter) is bad for us, the environment, and the animals. Even EB has palm fruit oil :-\
Maybe coconut oil is ok...?
"100% of the palm oil used in Smart Balance originates in peninsular
Malaysia and not Eastern Malaysia (i.e. Sarawak and Sabah on the Island of Borneo),
the main home for orangutans. As the orangutan.com website points out, slash
and burn clearing methods are illegal. We purchase our oil exclusively from
reputable, law-abiding plantations which are registered with the Malaysian
government.
Palm oil and soybean oil are the major edible oils in the world, together
they account for over 50% of all oil consumed worldwide. The alternative to
palm oil in the world markets is hydrogenated soybean oil. If we reduce the
world supply of palm, the markets will compensate by growing more soybeans.
Soybean cultivation is wasteful of natural resources. Palm plantations
require only a fraction of the acreage to produce the same quantity of oil
as soybean farms. An acre of palm trees will produce roughly 8,000-9,000 kgs
of oil per year while an acre of soybeans produces roughly 1,000 kgs of oil
per year. Brazil is now the world's largest and fastest growing producer of
soybeans. For every acre of Malaysian palm oil converted back to jungle,
several acres of Brazilian or Argentinean forest must be converted to
farmland."
that was a quote from the EB company that i found on ppk. original thread here.
that being said, i'm sure none of this crap is good for us or the environment. i mean, think about the packaging, shipping, etc, etc... honestly, as soon as we started storing a food we created a problem in terms of sustainability, of both our own and other species. we either have to escape the current system or just make as little of an impact as we can.
coconut oil is good tho.. and delicious! i know the coconut oil i get is locally produced here in Dominica, and they have another branch that makes it in Jamaica.. coconut trees are EVERYWHERE here and they produce coconuts like 4 times a year or something.. also the leftover coconut meal is used as a food source for the horses, cows and goats on island.. it smells so good too.. i totally want to eat it.. like coconut scented granola... and coconut oil is way good for you too.. speeds up your metabolism and burns off all the bad fat and gives you a huge burst of energy.. hehe i just eat spoonfuls of it throughout the day like icecream..
mmmm coconut oil (virgin that is) :)>>>