Valentine Candy Alert

Did you buy chocolates today for someone you love?

Take a quick second to scan the ingredients for palm oil and palm kernel oil. These controversial ingredients are no symbol of love.

A majority of the world’s palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, where thriving rainforests—home to ancient Indigenous communities, majestic creatures, and flora of every shape and size—are torn down by the palm industry and replaced with monoculture plantations, some of which use slave labor.

While being a “slave to love” might sound appealing to some, no one wants slave labor in their Valentine candy…or rainforest destruction or species extinction for that matter. Alert Valentine chocolatiers to the problems with palm oil.

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Posted on 14 February 2012

Tags: agribusiness, candy, Cargill, chocolate, chocolatiers, Indonesia, malaysia, palm kernel oil, palm oil, Rainforest Agribusiness, rainforests, valentine, valentine's day

About the Author

Born and raised in Mendocino County, Ashley Schaeffer comes from a family of solar energy pioneers. A lifelong vegetarian and passionate animal rights activist, she is fiercely committed to halting industrial expansion of oil palm plantations to ensure that orangutans don't become extinct. Before joining RAN in 2009, Ashley worked on social and environmental justice campaigns across the country with Amazon Watch, Green Corps, and finally Greenpeace for several years. Prior to her organizing career she worked for the World Learning Institute in Ecuador.

Read other posts by Ashley Schaeffer