February 11th, 2012
What kind of hippy freak would encourage you not to buy Girl Scout cookies in order to help save rain forests?
Well, me. But it’s a very reasonable thing. I don’t have a brain tumor, and I have nothing against the Girl Scouts. In fact, the Girl Scouts are dealing with an internal uprising consisting of some of their very own young members. Some Girl Scouts aren’t loving the fact that their iconic cookies contain palm oil.
You may remember my post from last March, Should You Ban Girl Scout Cookies?
I love a Tagalong as much as the next non-peanut allergic person, but I do think that the Girl Scouts need to do some soul searching about their use of palm oil in their famed and addictive cookies.
What’s so bad about using palm oil anyway?
Everyone’s doing it! And that’s the problem.
Rain forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate to produce palm oil. Endangered animals like tigers, orangutans and pygmy elephants need that habitat to survive. Plus, palm oil has more saturated fat than alternatives like canola.
During my brief stint in the Brownies, I kept wondering when we’d make cookies. Maybe that’s why I dropped out. I guess it’s acceptable that Girl Scouts don’t bake their own cookies, but they should feel comfortable selling those cookies that are allegedly baked under their authority.
It may seem unfair that the Girl Scouts are being demonized for their use of palm oil in cookies. Many, many products contain palm oil, but you can help change that.
Speak with your dollars. Look at ingredients and choose products that don’t contain palm oil. It’s an easy choice when you take a minute to think about it.
Do you buy Girl Scout cookies?
(image from flickr punctuated)
Filed under Green Choices | Comments (2)
I used to be a Girl Scout and my mom noticed that they use partially-hydrogenated oils, which was probably one of the few things we didn’t like about it. But to add a bit to the palm oil thing, on the Girl Scout FAQs page they talked about their use of palm oil. “Our licensed bakers are members of the RSPO and exclusively source palm oil from members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organization of growers, buyers, manufacturers, conservationists and interested parties who are striving to develop and follow best practices to ensure sustainability. In 2012, GSUSA will become an affiliate member of the (RSPO).” They might be moving to a better direction…just at a slow pace…
Hi Lili.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I think the Girl Scouts are trying to move in the right direction, but, as you said, they’re doing it slowly.
I’m thankful for the efforts of RSPO if they are genuine, but there are some people who say there’s no such thing as sustainable palm oil. Plus, I don’t believe there’s enough sustainable palm oil on the market to meet all the demand anyway.
Maybe one day the Girl Scouts will come out with natural cookies that don’t have palm oil or anything that’s partially hydrogenated. I know it’s possible to make them because the market has been growing so wildly over the last few years. A lot of them taste good too. As for me personally, I love to bake my own cookies!
Thanks for stopping by.