Girl Scouts Wear Badges For A Reason

Mmmm, Girl Scout Cookies. The things I’ve done to a box of those bad boys are too embarrassing to type.  But it turns out I have more that one reason to feel guilty for eating so many. Two 12-year old Girl Scouts in Ann Arbor, Michigan, are refusing to hock the schlock treats because the palm oil used to make them is causing the deforestation of Indonesia. While demand for palm oil is on the rise because is lacks trans-fat, Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen have asked their organization to stop contributing to the problem by selling the cookies. The pair have started a petition to stop the destruction, and since the Indonesian rain forest there is home to many orangutans, even Jane Goodall has signed it.  All their hard work has reached Girl Scout HQ, where a spokeswoman for the organization said that ABC Bakers, who produces the cookies, has agreed to only buy palm oil from already established producers. But that’s not good enough for these smart cookies, who promise to continue being Scouts, but won’t stop protesting palm oil’s devastating production. We think they deserve a merit badge for this! [Seattle Times]