Girl Scouts' pressure to remove palm oil from iconic cookies pays off, but more can be done, they say
Two Ann Arbor Girl Scouts on a campaign to get rainforest-destroying palm oil out of the iconic cookies have pushed the organization to commit to change.
Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva pressured Girl Scouts USA to take measures to use sustainable palm oil, but there is still work to be done, they say.
The Scouts began a campaign to get the palm oil out of cookies 5 years ago when, while working on a Girl Scout project, they discovered palm oil plantations destroyed the habitat of orangutans and other wildlife.
In a news release today, Girl Scouts USA said it will use its Girl Scout cookie boxes to raise awareness about the need to develop sustainable practices within the palm oil industry, starting in the 2012-2013 cookie season.
The organization will also purchase GreenPalm certificates that support the sustainable production of palm oil, the release states. The certificates award palm oil producers who operate within the social and environmental guidelines of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
However, those moves aren’t enough, Tomtishen and Vorva said in a news release today. They'd prefer the organization only use palm oil when no alternative is available, Tomtishen said in a release.
"We hope that today's announcement shows that Girl Scouts USA is serious about ensuring that their cookies don't destroy forests or endanger orangutans and other wildlife, and that they'll strongly urge their bakers to find an alternative oil that is both rainforest-safe and socially responsible,” Vorva said in the release.
“As a non-profit organization, not a food company, there should be no question that Girl Scout Cookies contain ingredients that live up to the values described in the Girl Scout Law," she said. "We look forward to continuing to work with Girl Scouts USA to become a real leader in protecting forests and wildlife."
In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began requiring unhealthy trans fats to be listed on the Nutrition Facts labels on manufactured food products.
Two official Girl Scouts bakers switched to palm oil in an effort to make their cookies healthier in light of the changes, Michelle Tomkins, spokesperson for the organization, told AnnArbor.com in April. Palm Oil contains no trans fats.
In its news release, Girl Scouts USA pledged to pressure the palm oil industry to change its ways. Currently, there is no segregated supply of sustainable palm oil.
Juliana Keeping covers general assignment and health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter
Comments
Jon Tomczyk
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 12:16 p.m.
It is regrettable that the Girl Scouts, as an organization should succumb to this trade bloc promoting activism/pressure. It is obvious that the two girl scouts, Rhiannon Tomtishen, 15, and Madison Vorva, 16 have been used by adult activists. It is inconceivable that the two could have been politically discerning at the tender age of 10 and 11 which was when they began their campaign. It is sad but the Palm Oil truth Foundation can reveal that the adult manipulators are from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). RAN is the same organization that had to sheepishly remove from their website their wild allegation that palm oil cultivation would lead to the extinction of the orang utan by 2011. Well 2011 is now upon us and the orang utan population in the wild has grown instead of going extinct when new tribes of more than 2000 wild apes were found in the East Kalimantan province of Indonesia, as reported by National Geographic. With roughly 50,000 orangutans thought to remain in the wild, the new find could add 5 percent to the world's known orangutan numbers, said Erik Meijaard, senior ecologist for the Nature Conservancy in Indonesia. It is well known that palm oil is grown on only 0.23% of the world's agricultural land and yet is the world's leading supplier of edible oil, supplying an incredible 30% of the world's edible oil. This fact alone should alert any objective observer that something does not jive with all the palm oil and deforestation hype. We wonder whether the same degree of animosity or hostility would still exist against this most benign of edible oil crops (palm oil) if the crop was not quite as hyper yielding as to pose serious competition to its rivals...so serious that the rivals feel that they can't beat palm oil in the open market and have to resort to payola to organizations such as RAN willing to sell their souls for the mighty greenback!
Anthony Clark
Thu, Sep 29, 2011 : 7:34 p.m.
Way to go girls! You are our future leaders. I am hopeful for the future knowing there are young people like you.
bergerc1
Thu, Sep 29, 2011 : 2:13 p.m.
I think it's sad that some commenters feel the need to criticize these girls. It's great to see kids who care and want to make a difference in this world. Good for them (and us)!!
Renee S.
Thu, Sep 29, 2011 : 4:25 a.m.
Unfortunately this leaves the cookies in a rather tight spot. As anyone knows, you can't make a good cookie without saturated fat. Usually when making cookies at home you use animal fat- butter or lard. Vegans didn't like that, and that's how Crisco was invented- hydrogenated vegetable oil. Great, right? But wait! The hydrogenation process creates, that's right, trans fat. So what's a cookie to do? Either it uses animal fat, trans fats or... ... one of scarcer forms of saturated vegetable fats, palm oil. Palm oil is basically the only commercially viable vegan non-trans fat for cookies. You might as well just ban cookies if you're going to require they stop using palm oil.
A2Woman
Wed, Sep 28, 2011 : 9:50 p.m.
Nice accomplishment, girls. I always found it unfortunate that the troop itself only got ~ $.25 for each box of cookies sold. As a former Girl Scout, Leader, and Cookie Mom, I know how much hard work goes into selling those boxes. (As parents, we too, took those order forms to work to pass around)
Homeland Conspiracy
Wed, Sep 28, 2011 : 9:32 p.m.
Lisa Simpson jr's
cinnabar7071
Wed, Sep 28, 2011 : 9:28 p.m.
So what are these girls going to do for the people who will lose their jobs because of their actions? Anything?
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Sep 28, 2011 : 10:02 p.m.
Let them eat cake. (cake made without palm oil, of course).