Iceland Christmas advert banned.

If nothing else, the publicity has raised awareness, which can only be a good thing. Our local radio station had a discussion about the ad and about palm oil today.

I very rarely share anything on FB but was moved enough to share this powerful advert. A friend in Australia has just said how good it is so feel pleased that it is being seen on the other side of the world.

I had no idea until I saw Simon Reeve's programme - I did know there was much of our produce grown in Spain but I didn't know under what conditions and was not aware of the slave labour used and the appalling conditions the workers have to live in.

I imagined nice farms, with happy workers employed under EU rules.

This is the EU today - truly shocking

Thank you,Baggs and jalima for putting the Simon Reeve program up. Everyone should see where their food is coming from.

X post!

www.ecowatch.com/europes-dirty-little-secret-moroccan-slaves-and-a-sea-of-plastic-1882131257.html

Or watch the last episode (4) of Mediterranean with Simon Reeve:
www.catchupplayer.co.uk/episode/103091/Mediterranean_With_Simon_Reeve.html

www.ecowatch.com/europes-dirty-little-secret-moroccan-slaves-and-a-sea-of-plastic-1882131257.html

I don't know why that link didn't work

For those who haven't seen The greenhouses in Spain that supply our salads.https://www.ecowatch.com/europes-dirty-little-secret-moroccan-slaves-and-a-sea-of-plastic-1882131257.html

And I doubt this one will achieve anything either Sparklefizz. Iceland announced their decision to go palm oil free on their own brand products back in April so it's not news. It was Greenpeace who were pressuring manufacturers to “take control” of their supply chains.

Iceland struck a deal with Greenpeace to use the ad for Christmas which is clever seasonal marketing but it is not as if the controversy over palm oil deforestation is new either.

It is a *huge* political issue. Look how upset Britain was over the EU vote to ban the use of palm oil in all European biofuels by 2020 because it puts into jeopardy the defence contract to supply Malaysia with British-built Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. Another Saudi Arabia. Human rights and environmental concerns go out the window if they threaten the British defence industry (and British jobs). What is that if not political?

The advert clearly contravenes Rule 7 of the 2003 Communications Act so I'd be very surprised if the petition achieves anything. Why weren't people signing petitions in April when this was a big news story?

Palm oil is in so many products not just food and other consumables. The drive to make plastics biodegradeable involves switching from petro-chemicals to plant-based products - palm oil in other words. I wonder how many people signing the petition will have been out today buying plastic toys as Christmas presents which contain palm oil.

GabriellaG upthread talked about cherry picking and that's exactly what's happening. Iceland are behaving as if the advert is a public service announcement but that's secondary to wanting to boost their Christmas sales. They are concerned but not that concerned that they are removing all palm oil products from their shelves.

Does change.org actually ever achieve anything? I have signed countless petitions of theirs in the past and then they seem to sink without trace and nothing changes.

There is a petition to reinstate the advert on Change.

Stacey Dooley investigated the environmental costs of cotton processing (BBC a few weeks ago). In Indonesia the Citarum river is horrifically contaminated by the production of cotton. This is a river used for washing people and clothes and bathing, many have serious skin complaints. One mother buys gallons of clean water to wash her baby. Environmental rules are ignored, those who campaign receive death threats. None of the UK fashion shops would appear on the programme or comment. Stacey wrote to Michael Gove and received an unbelievable reply - about efforts to limit plastic pollution, nothing at all to do with cotton. Fast fashion is a filthy industry, cotton processing uses a huge amount of water, second dirtiest industry. The programme is probably on I-Player. Stacey eventually resorted to getting support from young YouTube fashion bloggers who were disgusted by the smell and colour of the jar of water brought back from the Citarum river.

It should not have been banned, as it tells the truth. However...not really Christmas.....should be shown all year...

www.change.org/p/release-iceland-s-banned-christmas-advert-on-tv-nopalmoilchristmas

Palm oil is in everything nowadays....read the labels!

Now over 500 000 signatures. GN posters have been supporting and signing since the petition began.
Good to see the link again for any who missed it yesterday.

There's a petition against the ban which I've signed. I think it might have been Change.or.

Petition to get the advert shown on TV
www.change.org/p/release-iceland-s-banned-christmas-advert-on-tv-nopalmoilchristmas?recruiter=33817456&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&fbclid=IwAR3ev2NOFkLjRCGIsVblmko8_bZVl9mbuTZIkM7MNhwy5jQ83_7lBYB5voU

I have tried to avoid salad stuff from Spain for quite a long time and, having seen that, there is more reason now.

Many elderly people seem to be quite conscientious about waste and recycling and not buying too much 'tat', school children are becoming more and more aware - but still the forests are felled, plastic waste pollutes the earth and the seas.

Unless there is a seismic change of attitude worldwide I'm beginning to think that it is too late, quite honestly, and I am normally an optimist.

I’ve signed a petition to try to get it shown on T.V. Hope it works.

That programme certainly was a shock. I did realise that most of our salads were grown in Spain but I didn’t realise the scale of the polytunnels, somehow imagining it was outdoor - it being Spain and warmer. And I never envisaged the way the plastic would be discarded with such thoughtlessness. I assumed it would be recycled. How naive am I?!

I’m making a conscious effort now to eat seasonal local produce as much as possible.

(I too have shared the Iceland ad on FB)

Not outdoors: could see.

Grandmama
As we speak I'm not far from what is known as 'Plastic City' because it's so big. Did Simon mention that it can be seen from space?
I've mentioned this place before in relation to the eu and particularly in regards to the conditions the workers are kept in, mostly Africans.
We drive through the 'city' as a short cut to get to a camp site.
Did Simon mention the waste: it's horrendous. There are huge wheely bins everywhere with every salad ingredient and fruit thrown away because it's not the right shape or size for the supermarkets
I feel sure there are many on this site who would think twice about their supermarket salad isle if they outdoors see these conditions first hand: it's pitiful.

Grandmama I saw that Simon Reeve programme too and was horrified.

It made me think about continued membership of the EU (I did vote remain) but seeing that made me very uneasy about what is in fact happening in the so-called well-regulated EU in order to provide members with cheap food.
The way the workers were treated was horrifying and the deep layers of discarded plastic unbelievable - are EU rules not being adhered to or does the need for cheap food over-ride all else?

Thank you for the link to Iceland. Appalling that it has been banned.

I haven't read all the posts so sorry if this has already been mentioned. Simon Reeve recently went round the Med. He visited an area (Spain I think) that is completely covered in plastic greenhouses to supply us with the sort of semi-exotic vegetables that we never used to eat here - avocados, courgettes etc. The men who work there are virtually slaves living in appalling conditions and badly treated. The owners discard the thousands of square metres of old plastic/polythene from the greenhouses in a nearby dry river bed - the banks are solid with layers of plastic. The plastic becomes brittle and when the rains come it gets washed into the sea. Do the supermarkets ever check on the suppliers of the sort of veg that we import? I'm now trying to eat veg seasonally and as far as possible grown in this country (or in my garden).

And don't get me going on the production of cotton that was recently featured on a documentary. Horrific for those living near the river running by the cotton mills.