To be fed up of palm oil in everything

[clairemcnam]

I wanted to buy chocolate to eat this evening in front of the telly. Not posh chocolate, just your average bar of chocolate. And everything I looked at had palm oil in it. Just so annoyed.

@clairemcnam that's in part what I'm saying - do what you can and where you can.

Personally, I don't worry too much about palm oil - I try to make sure I buy from sustainable sources, but there is action happening in the industry to make it better. I worry more about how far away my food is coming from, and the amount of processing, water and energy use that goes into it - some of the things that aren't being tackled on a systemic scale yet.

I'm sorry if I come across as critical - one of the things that frustrates me most is the picking up of single issues by the media, be it palm oil or plastics, and the neglect of other, equally as destructive, issues. I do see that a single issue makes it more accessible however, and the whole story of human environmental impact is overwhelming which could limit progress. I'm just having a bit of a gin-soaked rant really (locally produced gin )

luna There is massive evidence that plastics are devastating our species in many ways. It is not a narrow single issue, it is a massive issue.

Agree. Had a box of Dairy Box for Valentine's day, and they were vile. All tasted either vile or bland and tasteless.

Many others have gone the same, including smarties and rolos.

Shame.

I buy Divine chocolate which is palm oil free and fair trade.
I have also made my own using cocoa/coconut oil and sugar, its easy and really good and you can add fruit/nuts/sea salt etc to it. Loads of recipes on pinterest.
Palm oil is a depressing business, I try very hard to avoid it. There is a good page on Facebook which lists palm oil free products
www.facebook.com/palmoilfreeuk/

I think it is the overwhelming aspect that makes single issues so much more 'popular'.

I can buy a palm oil free peanut butter in a glass (instead of plastic) jar and then recycle the jar. I can cope with that.

If I have to weigh that up against where it's come from and how they harvested the peanuts and how much energy and water went into it and were the farmers fairly paid...it's just too much! And then it's too easy to just say 'fuck it' and pick up any one.

I do try to buy as green and as ethically as possible but it's so hard to get everything right.

I sued to love smarties :(

I just bought some lovely chocolate in hema yesterday which doesn't contain any palm oil. Worth checking them out if you have one close by

Divine is my fave palm oil free chocolate, you can get it in Waitrose, the Co-op and Oxfam shops

@lunabody I get your point for products that need oils in. BUT chocolate never had oil in it, it's an added unneeded extra ingredient that just makes it tests yuk. So why add it in the first place and add a higher demand for an ingredient that really isn't needed?

Chocolate used to just be sugar, milk, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, cocoa solids maybe some flavourings ect. depending on the brand in varring amounts.

I'd prefer to pay more then have an unneeded extra ingredient that makes it taest yuk.

I'm sick of it in peanut butter. I was using Whole Earth but it now has it in. Aldi has palm oil free but oh my god it's runny and oily and a waste on money. So I buy meridians, although it can get compacted solid and that annoys the kids. Nobody has solved that problem!

Imperfectsusan good old Sunpat peanut butter remains palm oil free! This pleases me and it’s the only PB I buy.

migril That is a good point. There is absolutely no need to add oil to chocolate and make it less environmentally friendly, make it contribute to deforestation, and taste like shit.
I miss cadburys so much.

YANBU - it is SO hard to avoid. I know people are trying to be helpful suggesting alternatives, but the fact is that it's bloody exhausting walking around the supermarket trying to avoid it, because it's everywhere. We really need to put a lot more pressure on retailers and manufacturers about this - and ultimately, the supermarkets themselves need to stand up and take some responsibility for the appalling environmental practices around food. I'm sick and tired of seeing fruit and veg wrapped in unnecessary plastic - Aldi are one fo the worst. It's ridiculous, wasteful, and evil.

Is there anything we can do to stop manufacturers using it other than avoiding the product, avoiding it is a start but not everyone will do it.
Is there a petition or anything, can you write to the government, As an individual what more can I do to stop the madness of destroying the planet.

Apparently, MPs think that if they get 8 letters on a subject, it's a 'live issue'. I imagine the same logic would be true for supermarkets and food manufacturers, though the threshold would naturally be higher.

@HotSauceCommittee sunpat does have palm oil in I'm afraid... E417 refers to "mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids", they are synthetic fats that can be made from plant oils or animal oils. So not always from palm, but in the case of sunpat it is made from palm (you have to contact the company to find that out)

Thank you, @Hotsauce