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Ashley Schaeffer - who has written 75 posts on Rainforest Action Network Blog.
In just over a week’s time, thousands of people will descend on our food system by participating in a Global Day of Action to Occupy our Food Supply. Prominent thought leaders, authors, farmers and activists like Vandana Shiva, Michael Pollan, Annie & Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, Raj Patel, Gary Paul Nabhan, Anna Lappé, Marion Nestle, [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, February 14 2012
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 [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, January 26 2012
Whether you’re one of the 3,200 companies that do business in California with at least $100 million in worldwide gross receipts, or a consumer that buys products from anywhere other than your local mom and pop shops, you better check this out. Effective this month, a new law called the Transparency in Supply Chains Act [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, January 24 2012
Last week, over 40 Minnesota residents made a citizens’ arrest of Cargill, Inc. in front of the company’s downtown Minneapolis office at the Grain Exchange. I walked away from the event struck with inspiration and hope. Why? In addition to being amazed that so many enthusiastic people braved below-freezing weather to hold Cargill accountable for [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, December 13 2011
Since joining RAN’s forest program over two years ago, I have read and written about the many dire consequences of industrial scale palm oil plantations in Indonesia: one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, critical habitat for endangered species like orangutans destroyed, gross human rights abuses and labor conditions, and social conflict between [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, December 2 2011
As the 9thAnnual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) meeting wrapped up on the island of Borneo, the crisis stemming from the uncontrolled expansion of palm oil plantations into rainforests and communities reached a fever pitch. Consider this: In the few days that RAN’s four staff-member delegation attended the RSPO meeting in SE Asia, the [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, November 22 2011
Update 11/25/11 10:08am Despite key commitments to work with the RSPO to meet consumer demands, several key RSPO members are missing at this year’s RSPO meeting in Sabah, Malaysia. Has anyone recently seen Kellogg’s, McDonald’s or Girl Scouts USA? They were last seen buying palm oil with Cargill and making assurances to the public that [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, November 18 2011
In an interview, Dr. Marc Ancrenanz of HUTAN notes that oil palm plantations cover a staggering 14,000 square kilometers of Sabah, one of the two states in Malaysian Borneo and the number one producer of Malaysian palm oil. This is equal to 20 Singapores planted solely with palm! In the same interview, Dr. Marc Ancrenanz [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, November 10 2011
“Before we had a happy life,” Ms. Gaong said she tells her grandchildren. “Now it’s a difficult life. There’s nothing left for them.” The recent story in the New York Times titled “Clashes Between Tribes and Agribusiness Increase in Malaysia” tells an all-too common story. It’s not a happy story. It’s the story of farming [...]
Continue reading...By Ashley Schaeffer, November 7 2011
Unlike 2008′s showdown, nobody from RAN attended this year’s Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) shareholder meeting to hold CEO Patricia Woertz’ ass to the fire. Nonetheless, ADM did not get away without responding to tough questions about the company’s irresponsible palm oil supply chain. ADM, one of the world’s largest agricultural processors with operations in more [...]
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TAKE ACTION: Save Indonesia's #Indigenous Peoples in Kalimantan Forest http://t.co/YEDFfdRV #palmoil #humanrights via @probwithpalmoil
By Ashley Schaeffer, February 17 2012
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