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I have read that Ferrero (makers of Ferrero Roche chocolates among others) are harvesting palm oil in a sustainable manner - however even that gives me pause, b
by cyberferret 8y ago
I have read that Ferrero (makers of Ferrero Roche chocolates among others) are harvesting palm oil in a sustainable manner - however even that gives me pause, because as far as I know, palm oil plantations are not really sustainable per se?
The palm trees themselves are fast growing but tend to deplete the ground soil they are on of all available nutrients very quickly, meaning that really nothing else can be planted in their place for many, many years and can be expected to grow.
It is really a 'scorched earth' type plantation in more ways than one. I really don't believe there can be a sound 'sustainable' model of farming palm oil like most other plant resources.
- RugnirViking 8y agoSurely there must be a kind of crop rotation that can make it work? even if its one year on 3 years off, the opposite of really old crop rotations.
- adimitrov 8y agoPerhaps there could be, but not with the ruthless efficiency and disregard to environmental damage that farming in export-based agrarian economies tends to happen. We mop it up, because we don't care, and the damage done is far, far away.
- gpderetta 8y agoAnd Nutella. Apparently palm oil is an irreplaceable component of its recipe.
- cyberferret 8y agoI believe Nutella is manufactured by Ferrero as well. I stopped eating it, though I love it, because of the initial backlash about palm oil many years ago. Then, when they said they were going forward with 'sustainable' palm oil production, I started buying it again, but having second thoughts again because of the points raised in my original post above.