AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
DCL
Rainforest Action Network is encouraging people to contact General Mills to express their concern (or dismay or outrage, whatever is appropriate) at the company's increasing use of palm oil from Indonesian, Malaysian and Papua New Guinea rainforests.
The deforestation involved in palm oil production is one of the largest contributors to global warming, as Treehugger has pointed out before: Palm oil plantations store 40 tons of carbon per hectare in above-ground biomass, while selectively-logged forests store 70-200 tons and older forests that are left alone store a whopping 400 tons per hectare. The industry is also destroying habitat for orangutans, some of the world's rarest cats, and other endangered (or not-yet-endangered) wildlife.
But palm oil is everywhere, so the issue really transcends the personal decisions you make at the supermarket (though that's a start). So it's important that companies that manufacture with palm oil change their practices. Some, like Seventh Generation and The Body Shop, already have, but use of sustainable palm oil is not yet widespread.
As The Petition Site points out, "Palm oil is a common ingredient in General Mills brands and products, from Betty Crocker and Pillsbury to Nature Valley Granola Bars and Yogurt Burst Cheerios."
So they're asking people to send letters to the General Mills CEO, Kendall Powell. They even have a sample letter for you to model from. Let General Mills know you don't want rainforest and wildlife habitat destruction in your breakfast cereal. (Or cookies, or bread, or snacks..)
