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Don't Palm Us Off - Update (30 June 2011)
An amended Senate Bill has been re-introduced and passed the
Senate unopposed. The Bill has been changed to includer all
grocery products including foods, cosmetics, detergents and even
biofuels. The vote now goes to the House of Representatives
and may happen as early as this week. Should it be passed,
palm oil labelling will become mandatory in all products across
Australia. The process is now firmly in the hands of
Australia's politicians - that is scary ! If you would like
to continue having your voice heard then you are most welcome to
write to your Federal MP and let them know how you feel about the
legislation. Watch this space for further updates.
Zoos Victoria have recently launched their newest campaign -
Don't Palm Us Off !
This is a campaign that our staff and firm fully support and
with everyone's help, we will make this campaign succeed.
What is Don't Palm Us Off ?
Every hour the equivalent of 300 soccer fields of forest are
cleared in South East Asia to produce palm oil.
Derived from the fruit of the oil palm, palm oil is one of the
world’s leading agricultural commodities and is widely used as an
ingredient in food products, cosmetics and other household
items.
More than 85% of the world’s palm oil comes from Indonesia and
Malaysia – the last remaining habitat of the orang-utan.
The sad fact is that palm oil is driving orang-utans to
extinction. As their natural habitat is cleared to produce palm
oil, the world loses more than 1,000 of this incredible creatures
each year. At this rate, they will be extinct in the wild in about
ten years.
So what has this got to do with you?
Every time you buy food at the supermarket, there’s a 40% chance
you are adding to this crisis. Palm oil is rarely labeled in food
products like chips, chocolates and ice-cream. It’s often a secret
ingredient passed off as ‘vegetable oil’.
Because palm oil is not labeled you don’t have the choice about
whether the food you buy is pushing orang-utans to extinction.
If palm oil is labeled, you’re not only able to make an informed
choice about the food you buy, you are also able to exercise your
rights as a consumer and demand palm oil from sustainable certified
sources that do not drive orang-utans to
extinction.
There’s a huge market palm oil but sadly palm oil from
sustainable certified sources only accounts for between one and
four percent of global supply.
You can easily do something about it.
Zoos Victoria has launched a campaign called Don’t Palm Us
Off to get mandatory labeling of palm oil in all food
products.
All you need to do is visit www.zoo.org.au/palmoil and
sign your name to support palm oil labeling. It’s your choice.
Don't Palm Us Off Fact
Sheet
Palm
Oil Free Products |
