We all have foods that, triggered by smell like ‘Madeleins moments’ in Proust’s 'A la recherché du temps perdu’, comfortingly bring us back to childhood.

So I was slightly unsurprised but very disappointed to hear how mine, the unique chocolate spread made from Piemontese hazelnuts, was contributing to under-development and global warming.

If Indonesia is the world's third biggest emitter of C02, it is due to the deforestation that takes place within its borders for 75% of the world’s palm oil to be extracted. This is the 'sugar' making up the most part of my nutella pot and is processed for companies like Nestlé and Unilever as well.

Such patterns of production, aside from the deforestation in Indonesia, are thus having an invisible high impact on carbon footprint and consumption patterns. Without being mentioned on labeling aside from being described as ‘sugar’, even has a negligible nutritional content, unsurprising as it is currently only produced due to it being possible to do so at low cost whilst impacting the environment and reducing its biodiversity. 

This and more was revealed in a report published by environmental activists and detectives Greenpeace here: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/hidden-carbon-liability-of-palm-oil/

There isnt going to be a law on stopping sugar travelling so far, and it is up to a handful of people in Indonesia and the North to stop accepting that the deforestation takes place.. so how can we make it cheaper and better to use sugar from closer to home, if we even have to use it that it? Ideas are welcome!

In the meantime I will go and look at some other food labels. Do you know of any stories behind yours that affected your consumption?