Ethical & Non-GM Sourcing.
VEGAN & NON-GM
GMO’s
All Go Max Go products are made without the use of GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms). That means each ingredient we use is sourced from plants that have not been genetically modified. Both on our product wrappers and here on our website you’ll notice the start of the ingredient listing for each of our products begins “INGREDIENTS (VEGAN & NON-GM)”.
Cocoa
The cocoa used in our chocolatey coating (our own recipe and made just for us) is Certified Fair Trade and is sourced from a company that promotes sustainability: encompassing fair labor (only sources where international labor standards are practiced), environmental stewardship, and providing improved economic returns for cocoa farmers. The cane sugar and vanilla used in our signature-recipe chocolatey coating are Certified Fair Trade as well.
Ethically Sourced Palm Oil is a Reality
Ethical sourcing for palm oil is available and has been for a while now. We’re currently sourcing our palm oil with a company who’s been committed to ethical production, including a zero deforestation policy, since 2001. Located in Brazil, our vendor is also a charter member of the Palm Oil Innovation Group. Other charter members include environmental and labor NGO’s such as Green Peace, Rainforest Action Network, Orangutan Land Trust, International Labor Rights Forum and more. Information about POIG can be found here: http://poig.org/. We want to give you the information about POIG so that you may share with others who are concerned about palm oil production. If you are planning to contact companies to ask questions about they’re palm oil sourcing please pass on this information!
The POIG has improved upon the goals of the RSPO and we support ALL efforts to curtail any abuses associated with palm oil production. In the column to the right we’ve included a letter written by the Executive Director of Orangutan Land Trust (used by permission) in response to an opinionated but misinformed opponent of the RSPO. We think it’s very telling of the efforts being made to advance this industry into one that is compatible with the earth, the animals, and us. As palm oil is a necessary ingredient for our products, we will stay on top of the issue to ensure we are sourcing in the most responsible manner possible.
Thanks to all of you for your time and support of our company and products!
— Go Max Go Foods
The letter written by the Executive Director of Orangutan Land Trust:
As Executive Director of Orangutan Land Trust and representative of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation on RSPO, I believe there is a role for us to play from within this organisation. Groups like ours and Wetlands International and Sawit Watch challenge RSPO every step of the way–highlighting and denouncing short-comings, failures, and misplaced agendas. We are thorns in their sides, pushing for more credibility and transparency. If you attend ANY of the RSPO meetings, you can see us in action, and judge for yourself.
Monocultures including oil palm, soya, rapeseed and corn exist and will continue to exist. It is essential that they operate in the most sustainable way possible. But we all understand that a monoculture by its very definition can never truly be considered “sustainable”. I think of it as degrees of sustainability, and that there are bare minimums that we can and should expect as the norm: no land-grabbing, a no burn policy, no conversion of peat or HCV areas, to put it in the most simplistic of terms.
As individuals and communities, we have the right to avoid the use of palm oil on principal, but it will still be produced despite this. We must fight for ensuring that that which is produced is produced “sustainably”.
We SHOULD reduce the overall demand for oil-seed monocultures, especially for use in biofuels.
As a member of RSPO, I support the goals of the RSPO, but do not endorse the failures of the RSPO, such as certifications of certain members who were undeserving.
Yours sincerely,
Michelle Desilets
Executive Director
Orangutan Land Trust
forests4orangutans.org