Almost 50,000 Canadians have signed onto a new petition by SumOfUs.org, a consumer advocacy organization, urging Tim Hortons, the Canadian coffee and doughnut retailer, to help protect rainforests and pledge to use only responsible palm oil in their donuts.
VIEW THE PETITION HERE.
Tim Hortons says it recognizes deforestation driven by development for palm oil is a big problem — but the Canadian icon hasn’t yet changed its “no questions asked” approach to sourcing. Palm oil suppliers like IOI Loders Croklaan continue to sell palm oil from bulldozed forests, destroyed peatlands and ruined homes of Sumatran tigers and orangutans. And there is no time to waste, there are less than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. This is why SumOfUs.org is urging Tim Hortons to join other major companies like Kellogg’s and Nestle and publicly commit to sourcing only responsible palm oil now.
“Timmys can do better,” said Kevin Grandia, campaign spokesperson and Canadian Campaign Manager with Forest Heroes. “Right now, the palm oil industry is undergoing a massive shift towards true sustainability. Because of public demand from hundreds of thousands of people around the world, including SumOfUs members, many large companies like Kellogg’s and suppliers like Wilmar International have committed to eliminating deforestation from their supply chains. It is as simple as not frying doughnuts with palm oil grown by cutting down rainforests.”
“Tim Hortons doughnuts are delicious, but unfortunately they’re also destructive,” says Angus Wong, Canadian Campaigner with SumOfUs.org. “Right now, the bubbling palm oil that makes their doughnuts so good comes at a huge cost, but it doesn’t have to — over half of all the palm oil in the world is guided by responsible, deforestation-free palm oil policies. Tim Hortons needs to move quickly to commit to a policy that would stop the reckless and unnecessary destruction of precious rainforest. We urge Tim Hortons to publicly commit to stopping the destruction of peatlands and homes of orangutans and Sumatran tigers.”
Posted by Rachel Allan
09/05/14
