Self restraint...

A huge amount of self restraint will be required in our household over the next few weeks! Let me explain -

MrM and I try to avoid all products containing palm oil, "sustainable " or not. Not only does it threaten the survival of orangutans, but it's full of saturated fat and therefore very bad for our cholesterol levels. If you've ever tried to avoid palm oil, you'll know how difficult this is - it's in a huge number of prepared foods, including cakes and biscuits, as well as in toiletries and cosmetics.
So this evening, when MrM discovered that our supermarket of choice now stocks palm-oil free peanut butter, he couldn't resist putting some in the trolley. Not a small jar, but a 1kg tub of crunchy peanut butter to go on our palm oil free (and proud) oatcakes. The question is, can MrM we resist dipping in to the tub at every opportunity? It may be palm-oil free, but it's still highly calorific...

For more on orangutans, read on -
It seems that the main threat to the survival of orangutan populations in the wild is the massive expansion of palm oil plantations in Borneo and Sumatra. We are of the opinion that even "sustainable" palm oil has a deleterious effect on the environment and the local populations (not to mention the climate) in vast areas of the tropics, where much of the rain forest has been cut down to make way for palm oil plantations. And after the plantations have been established, displaced starving orangutans are often brutally killed as 'agricultural pests' when they try to find food.