2 Girl Scouts Compel Kellogg's to Take a Stance on Palm Oil

While it's impressive that Kellogg's recently announced that it will limit deforestation in the production of Frosted Flakes, Keebler cookies, Rice Krispies, and Girl Scout cookies what's more impressive is that two 15 year old Girl Scouts from Michigan compelled the mega manufacturer to do so. According to Grist, Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen have been pushing Girl Scouts USA to switch to cookies made with healthier alternatives like olive or canola oil.

Grist writes:

In their investigation, they discovered that the main threat to the orangutans' survival, as well as other endangered wildlife like Sumatran tigers, Sumatran rhinoceroses, and pygmy elephants, was the clearing and burning of Southeast Asia's rainforests for palm oil, an additive in cookies, crackers, and cosmetics. So imagine their surprise when they found out that their beloved Girl Scouts were selling palm oil.

After contacting Dr. Douglas Boucher at the Union of Concerned Scientists, he wrote a letter to the Girl Scouts and copied Kellogg's urging them to make a change. Their campaign compelled Kellogg's to take a stance against palm oil and make this statement:

Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) announced today that it is helping fund sustainable palm oil production through purchasing GreenPalm certificates covering 100 percent of its global palm oil use.

Currently, only 6 percent of the world's palm oil is sustainably produced. Kellogg's plans to purchase certificates toward 100 percent sustainable palm oil. Money from these certificates will fund more production of sustainable palm oil in the future, which is currently only available in Europe. Once available, Kellogg's will purchase green palm oil directly. This is a bit dicey because the product isn't yet available but at least it forces the industry to move toward green. I only wish they canned the use of palm oil entirely and went with healthier alternatives, but it is a step in the right direction. Cheers to Madison and Rhiannon for their hard work and for showing all of us that we CAN make a difference in our world.

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