19 January 2010
A letter to the good people of Arnotts. Nice Bird. Have you see the tomato sauce bottle? Just sayin’
re: Suffering ingredient-induced guilt.
Hi there
Just as I was biting into a Double Coat today a friend said, “We’ll have to write to them.” Who, I thought? The biscuits? mmmm biscuits. Wouldn’t it be nice if the world was… made of biscuits? Oh wait, that’s someone else. Nevermind.
“Because we can’t threaten to stop eating them,” she added. Stop. Eating. Them? NOOOOOO. Impossible. How would I get through break ups? Friend spats? Broken nails?
Indeed. But to be entirely honest once I twigged to what she was referring to, the palm oil didn’t seem so tasty. I mean the biscuit. It’s the palm oil you see. Some of our good friends are Orang-utans and the farming of Palm Oil is the reason for their homes being destroyed and their friends and families being murdered and without intervention, probably the extinction of their species. I’m sometimes not fussed about extinction (for example: there’s a species called ‘my ex boyfriend’ I’m cool with going down) but Orang-utans are for the most part very cute, very cuddly, very furry and have extremely soulful beautiful eyes that make you want to cry at the best of times.
So. Look I haven’t even finished the packet and I’ve never ever said this before, but I can’t have another Tim Tam. I know you don’t know me but let me assure you this is tantamount to tying myself to a tree, or a bulldozer, or whatever it is you’re meant to tie yourself to.
So please please please take the palm oil out.
Is it out yet?
There’s five left in the packet.
Is it gone?
Hello?
Lou Pardi
UPDATE: Arnotts response
Dear Lou ,
Thank you for your recent correspondence.
Please be assured that Arnott’s has sought an assurance from our palm oil supplier – Cargill Australia Limited – that they are a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). At its 5th annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur in November 2007, the RSPO launched its Certification System for Sustainable Palm Oil. With a Certification System in place, the RSPO is confident that Certified Sustainable Palm Oil will be available in the near future.
Arnott’s will continue to monitor these developments closely. In the meantime, however, Cargill Australia Limited has assured Arnott’s that it:
” Has already made substantial progress in preparing its plantations to meet RSPO Principles and Criteria, and expect to achieve certification in 2008. Prior to the establishment of the RSPO sustainability criteria, Cargill has already committed not to plant on high conservation value forests (HCVF) and to only expand production on ‘degraded’ land. They will not develop new plantations on peat land will work to protect biodiversity including orang-utans and other species
” Will continue to expand their partnerships with non-governmental organisations and local communities in the vicinity of its plantations to protect HCVF and biodiversity
” Will work towards an eventual goal to have a 100% RSPO certified supply chain.
We hope you find this information useful.
Kind Regards
Dawn
Consumer Contact Centre
24 George Street | North Strathfield | NSW | 2137 | Australia
Update: Lou response
Hi Dawn
Thanks for your response – I can see you’ve gone to some trouble to find the information and I appreciate it.
Did Cargill Australia Limited receive certification in 2008?
It’s now 2010 and Palm Oil is still costing about 50 Orang-utan lives a week…
It’s enough to make a girl give up Tim Tams.
Cheers
Lou
