Awful cruelty in Coconut Oil production

[Tobi]

Coconut Oil is gaining in popularity as being a healthier option to many other oils, and is used in the health food industry, beauty industry, etc. It is "the go-to oil" for many people nowadays.

But there is a very dark side. Monkeys are being abused, cruelly treated and used as slave labour to collect these precious Coconuts!:

http://allamericanvegan.com/2015/02/19/d...r-coconut/

Why Coconuts from some countries are not vegan at all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qJc8loYQac

[Catherine]

How is it possible that we can even turn plant products into an excuse for animal cruelty?
It is unbelievable, something like coconuts that can be grown with out harming animals, are now being harvested with animal slave labour.

We are all going to have to watch where our coconut products come from. Mostly I use vegetable oils from the Canadian prairies and  some olive oil. I am glad I didn't get into the coconut oil craze.

[Tobi]

The problem is many vegan products are made with coconuts/coconut oil. Vegan butters, cream, and it is added to many products. And yes there is a bit of a 'craze' about it going on. I'm sure it is very good, but as a general all-purpose oil, I could never get into it either as it tastes like shower gel to me; slightly 'perfumed', though I really like fresh coconut and the water from inside.
My favourite oil is not coconut oil and I don't use it. But it's amazing how many 'good' beauty products. hair conditioners, etc contain it too.

The reason for the use of these Monkeys is because they can harvest much larger amounts than a man can do. But why do they have to be treated so badly? WHY? They could be trained to do that job and treated well at the same time!!
Because -excuse me for saying this -but the attitude is a very backward one among the farmers in those countries. And the mentality leaves a lot to be desired.
Apart from the economical motive, there is a bullying sadistic attitude to small creatures who cannot or daren't defend themselves. If they did, they would probably be beaten to death. Some of those men may get a dark satisfaction from being so sadistic.

[LPC]

Oh dear! I was totally unaware about all this. Thank you, Tobi, for the links to the videos. It certainly opened my eyes, and made me feel very uncomfortable indeed, as we use coconut cream and milk quite a lot.

After reading up on the topic, it is clear that the use of monkeys is very widespread. Their treatment is indeed akin to slavery, as Catherine has rightly pointed out.

I found this excellent article. It explains things very clearly:
http://allamericanvegan.com/2015/02/19/d...ur-coconut

At the end of that article there are two companies mentioned, which use Mexican sources, where monkeys do not live and are not used for harvesting. Here are details:
https://thepureway.com
leading to:
https://thepureway.com/products/coconut-...ed-organic

and there is also
https://www.adecoco.com/collections/listadeproductos (but it is in Spanish!)

[Catherine]

I don't use a lot of coconut products, but the brand of coconut milk I have is from Malaysia. I don't know yet about the body wash, lotions and hair oil. They have coconut, but I will have to check out their source.
I use products from a company that tries to ethically source their materials so their coconut products may be okay.

Quote:The problem is many vegan products are made with coconuts/coconut oil. Vegan butters, cream, and it is added to many products. And yes there is a bit of a 'craze' about it going on. I'm sure it is very good, but as a general all-purpose oil, I could never get into it either as it tastes like shower gel to me; slightly 'perfumed', though I really like fresh coconut and the water from inside.

I don't like the taste of it either. This is going to be a problem since so many vegan products use the coconut oil and milk.

I know it is a matter of profits just like it is with factory farming. They want to make as much money as possible. Has no one ever had the thought to do things in a kinder, more ethical way. They would earn little less, but they could be proud of what they do.
I think when we do things in a kinder more ethical way it has a good effect on us as persons. Abusing and enslaving monkeys for a living doesn't strike me as a path to personal growth.

[Tobi]

Yes "The Pure Way" use coconuts sourced from Mexico. That will be helpful for US consumers (possibly Canada?) I am not sure how widely The Pure Way exports their coconut products.

Here is also a list of UK companies who don't use coconuts sourced from animal slave labour:

http://www.eatplantsnotanimals.com/anima...y-monkeys/

[LPC]

That's very helpful, Tobi. Thank you!

[Tobi]

Here is a list of companies in USA who do not use monkeys to pick the coconuts used in their products:

http://animalplace.org/did-a-monkey-pick-your-coconuts/

(This was at the bottom of the UK page but I missed it before.)

[Catherine]

I don't recognize the majority of those companies, but I see The Body Shop is on the list. That means all my coconut products are okay. The Body Shop has always made a point of not testing on animals. I like to support their commitment to cruelty free.

Food products I will have to look into. I don't eat a lot of coconut products, but when I do I don't want them to be picked by monkey slave labour.

If we all firmly reject companies that use coconuts picked by monkeys we can have an economic impact. That is the only message they will understand. It doesn't help the monkeys being abused now, but it might not be worth it to train new ones if people reject the products.