Hello baby!

In the lecture theatre today I spotted a large NO on the wall one side of the whiteboard, and on the other, a large YES. Was Wee Eck* to be a surprise guest speaker?

But no, the talk today was about Palm Oil - very interesting. Lots of questions during the talk as well. Basically, it’s cheap to produce and buy, it’s versatile (in just about everything, as well as biofuel and animal feed) very high yielding (about 10 times more than other oils - soya, sunflower or rape).

In 2004 a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was set up, which aims to promote sustainable palm oil. What is happening now, and has been for decades, is that vast tracts of rainforest in Malaysia and Indonesia have been cleared to grow palm oil. This has of course damaged the rich biodiversity in these ecosystems. Orang utans are the poster boys of the RSPO, with over 90% of their habitat having been destroyed, and over 50,000 orang utan killed in the last 20 years. But they’re not the only species in danger.

The speaker, Polly Phillpot, had a big rubbish bag full of used containers - all sorts of food, shampoo, cosmetics, toothpaste etc. We had to grab a container, read the ingredients (lots of problems there with teeny tiny printing) and stand on one side or the other. There were more of us on the NO side.

Polly then showed a list of about 30 substances which are made from palm oil, and are used in these items, but not mentioned as ‘palm oil’, so we had to have anther look. ‘Vegetable Oil’ could mean ‘palm oil'. It's not straightforward, as vast tracts of land are cleared for soya production as well, so it was pointed out that perhaps palm oil was, in fact, more practical, if it can be regulated by the RSPO. A huge problem, but we as consumers can check ingredients and demand sustainable palm oil products.

I often pop in to see the koalas, but they rarely do anything. I’ve been wanting to see the baby, and last time I was there I did see an ear, as they slept and slept and slept.

But today was different! I arrived just in time, as mum and baby (Alinga and Yooranah) were moving down for a feed. They sat and looked at us for ages. I could see a crowd of wee school kids outside lining up nicely outside. I indicated to the adults to hurry in, lest they missed the ‘action’. By the time they did all get in, mum and baby were behind some leaves, munching. But they seemed happy (the kids). And indeed, the koalas. I don’t think for one second that they pine to be let loose in the wild - they have a marvelous enclosure, plenty of food, and no dangers. And they don’t really move around much anyway.

Today's biscuits with my coffee are already in the biscuit tin, so I couldn't check the packaging. Ate them. But I will check from now on.

* Wee Eck is an affectionate and/or derogatory name for our leader, Alec Salmond, and Yes/No refers to the forthcoming referendum on Scotland becoming independent.