Vegan Butter Substitutes

[Guest guest]

Can anyone recommend a vegan butter substitute?  It should taste like butter, but not have any saturated or trans fats, and not have a lot of "junky" ingredients.

[Guest guest]

My favorite is Earth Balance buttery spread. There are several different

varieties in tubs, even one with no soy, and it is also available in cubes.

None have trans fats or other bad ingredients. The best price I've found in

north Marin is at Whole Foods. (Safeway is way too high.)

Karen

 

--- Melisse Leib wrote: Can anyone recommend a vegan butter substitute? It

should taste like butter, but not have any saturated or trans fats, and not have

a lot of " junky " ingredients.

[Guest guest]

I would echo the recommendation for Earth Balance, and add that Trader Joe's also carries Earth Balance. Not sure how the price compares to Safeway and Whole Foods, but as a general rule, I've also found Trader Joe's prices to be very competitive for staple items.

 

Cheers,

Tammy

My two cents, vegan-style .. - today or read it on GenerationV.org

[Guest guest]

Unfortunately the vegan butter substitutes, such as Earth Balance, are made with Palm Oil, which is an ingredient used in 50 percent of all consumer goods from

lipstick to breakfast cereals and is grown in tropical countries like

Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Palm Oil suppliers are clearing and burning rainforests to make way for

palm oil plantations. This process, of course, is destroy habitat for many species, including the endangered Orangutan, who will soon be extinct if this process continues. Earth Balance maintains they only use Palm Oil from established plantations however they offer no documentation. Even if true these " established " plantations were also once Orangutan habitat and the profitability of " established " Palm Oil plantations is encouraging more rainforest destruction to " establish " more plantations. The only way to stop such destruction is to boycott Palm Oil products. Because Palm Oil is used in everything from soaps to soy milk, (Palmitate vitamin A), this can be a difficult task, but not impossible. Companies that use Palm Oil should be told why you are not using their products and encouraged to stop using Palm Oil.

http://ga3.org/campaign/callcargillPat Cuviello

[Guest guest]

Rainforest clearcutting for palm oil is definitely something we should

be concerned about as ethical eaters. That said, everyone draws their

line where they feel comfortable. (Kind of like the almond thing...)

 

I asked Earth Balance a couple months ago about their palm oil and this

is their response:

 

----------

Earth Balance - Palm Fruit Source

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:27:17 -0400

 

Thank you for your interest in our Earth Balance products.

 

Our oil comes from the palm fruit, and it’s sourced primarily from

Malaysia. The palm fruit oil we obtain only comes from existing palm

plantations and not new jungle-clearing projects. We purchase our oil

from reputable, law-abiding plantations that are registered with their

respective national governments.

 

Our palm fruit oil comes from peninsular Malaysia and not Eastern

Malaysia (i.e. Sarawak and Sabah on the Island of Borneo). There are no

orangutans in the wild on peninsular Malaysia. We DO NOT source palm

fruit oil from Indonesia (Sumatra), the other primary home of

orangutans. Indonesia has been the focal point for most of the concerns

regarding sustainable palm oil production.

 

Palm fruit oil is a key ingredient in the natural oil blend that is used

in our spreads. Palm oil provides the solids needed in our balanced fat

blend to make a buttery spread and is what helps to make Smart Balance a

heart-healthier product that is naturally trans-fat free. Many people

have suggested using soy oil instead of palm oil but we would have to

use a synthetic manufacturing process such as hydrogenating the

vegetable oils which creates trans fats. In addition, it would not be a

balanced fat product.

 

You can find out more information about the palm oil cultivation

through The Malaysian Palm Oil Council web site www.mpoc.org.my

<http://www.mpoc.org.my>

----------

 

I would like to take them at their word - hoping they aren't like the

corporate giants who might outright lie to me. Do you know if they get

their oil from Cargill? Were they unwilling to release documentation of

their sources or just not providing it up front?

 

Now I'm curious.

 

JASE

 

 

Pat Cuviello wrote:

>

>

> Unfortunately the vegan butter substitutes, such as Earth Balance, are

> made with Palm Oil, which is an ingredient used in 50 percent of all

> consumer goods from lipstick to breakfast cereals and is grown in

> tropical countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Palm

> Oil suppliers are clearing and burning rainforests to make way for

> palm oil plantations. This process, of course, is destroy habitat for

> many species, including the endangered Orangutan, who will soon be

> extinct if this process continues. Earth Balance maintains they only

> use Palm Oil from established plantations however they offer no

> documentation. Even if true these " established " plantations were also

> once Orangutan habitat and the profitability of " established " Palm Oil

> plantations is encouraging more rainforest destruction to " establish "

> more plantations. The only way to stop such destruction is to boycott

> Palm Oil products. Because Palm Oil is used in everything from soaps

> to soy milk, (Palmitate vitamin A), this can be a difficult task, but

> not impossible. Companies that use Palm Oil should be told why you are

> not using their products and encouraged to stop using Palm Oil.

>

> http://ga3.org/campaign/callcargill <http://ga3.org/campaign/callcargill>

>

> Pat Cuviello

>

>