Problem: Nut butter oils separate from the spread while the can is sitting on supermarket shelves.

Option 1: Stir it.

Option 2: Buy a bunch of rainforest in Indonesia, cut down everything, grow a bunch of palm oil trees, harvest the fruit (i.e., burn a bunch of fossil fuels), process it using hexane and other chemicals, then add it to your nut butter to make it shelf-stable.

I find it insane that Option #2 is even an option, but alas, palm oil is in a lot of peanut butter, and about 50% of all grocery store products. It’s not just in our food, but it’s in our makeup, your soaps, and lotions. It’s the most commonly produced vegetable oil, and the land currently dedicated to its production is the size of New Zealand. All that land is within 20 degrees of the equator, and it used to be home to now endangered species such as orangutans, rhinos, elephants, and Sumatran tigers.

Many companies tout their products as sustainable because their palm oils are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Although the World Wildlife Fund is a member of the RSPO, the oil producers are also members of the organization, and there has been significant criticism that RSPO certified producers are still violating human rights and clear cutting forests. Some articles I’ve read argue that palm oil is actually more sustainable than other types of oils due to the high yield per tree, but I find those claims dubious. Compared to coconut trees, for example, palm fruit trees live half as long. Coconut trees can also grow in sandier soils and therefore do not require producers to destroy pristine rainforest.

Regardless of whether palm oil can be produced sustainably, whether it is more sustainable than other oils, or whether it is healthy, in the case of nut butters, it is simply unnecessary. Nut butters only require 1 ingredient: nuts! There are two nut butter choices pictured above. The one on the left contains palm oil, added sugar, salt, and comes in a plastic jar. The one on the right contains only peanuts and salt. It comes in a glass container with a metal lid, oh, and Heaven-forbid, you might have to stir it.

Admittedly, stirring nut butters, especially almond butter, can be a forearm searing workout, but ovary-up and commit the two minutes of your life it will take. Imagine a cute orangutan baby while you’re stirring and I promise you’ll get through it, maybe even with a smile on your face.

By the way, we’re still searching for a nut butter that comes in a glass jar and doesn’t have any additional ingredients – let us know if you’ve found this unicorn!