MAKING AN EASY, INEXPENSIVE CRUELTY-FREE AND PALM OIL-FREE VEGAN BUTTER-Y SPREAD

Note: see this new post for the easy updated recipe.
But what do I mean by "cruelty-free"?  Read on...

Some of you may know that I devised a palm oil-free (and coconut oil-free) vegan "butter" (which I call "Buttah") back in 2012.  I devised it as part of my plan to eliminate palm oil from my diet for environmental reasons and also for the animals harmed in the growing worldwide industry. (You can read all about it here and the printable recipe is here.) "Buttah" is a solid product which can be used in baking and as a spread, or for cooking. Though I use it sparingly, we love it and it has been a hit with vegans and omnivores alike.

Here's the "but" part-- My "Buttah" is made with oil and cocoa butter (organic and steam-deodorized so that it doesn't smell like chocolate).  It only needs a small amount of cocoa butter compared to liquid oil (which makes the fat profile healthier than most spreads). But cocoa butter, and especially organic and fair trade cocoa butter, is getting more and more expensive and the steam-deodorized organic block type that I have purchased in the past is getting hard to find.  With our low Canadian dollar, it is really expensive!

I have some of that cocoa butter left and I will use it for "Buttah" to use occasionally in (and on) special baking.  (I use oil- sometimes frozen-- and much less than most recipes call for, in my pie crust.) But I wanted a spread for toast or pancakes, and no commercial vegan spread that I can find does not contain palm oil or a derivative or two.

One day it occurred to me that I should try the old method (which I believe originated with Seventh Day Adventist vegans many years ago) of making a vegan mayonnaise by drizzling oil into some soymilk while blending, then adding the appropriate seasoning. Evidently, the natural lecithin in the soymilk enables the oil and soymilk to coagulate into a creamy, spreadable mass.  (I had made this in the past, but now use my very lowfat vegan mayo, which can be made with only 1/4 cup oil for a slightly-over-2-cup batch, or with 1/4 cup of certain seeds and/or nuts instead of extracted oil.)

So, I tried making a "butter-y" spread using that method, adjusting the flavoring, of course, and adding a bit of liquid lecithin and vegetable gum powder to make it less apt to separate. It worked! This new spread looked to be a winner-- a.) inexpensive, b.) quick and easy to make, c.) keeps well, and d.) tastes yummy, with a good mouthfeel.

But I wanted to also make a soy-free version for anyone allergic to soy, so I tried it with almond milk and also with a low-fat coconut-based unsweetened creamer, and it didn't work as well, simply because only soymilk contains the lecithin that seems to be the key to thickening this product. However, with slightly more lecithin and vegetable gum (guar or xanthan), which I included to keep it it from separating so easily, it worked out reasonably well. (Update: NON-SOY VARIATION:

Instead of soymilk, use Silk or So Delicious Coconut Creamer (Original), which are both cruelty-free, or you can use a creamy sort of plant-based milk that has a pleasant taste. (Rice milk is too thin).  NOTE: Silk and So Delicious brands use cruelty-free coconut products.

However, I then decided to try using solid refined coconut oil in place of 1/2 of oil in an attempt to make the spread a bit more solid and less apt to separate. It was definitely an improvement!

The recipe can be found here:
http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/2019/05/newly-revised-easier-cheaper-cruelty.html

Truth to tell, I prefer not to use coconut oil very often, despite the craze for it, because of the saturated fat. (No, I am not convinced that saturated fat is good for us! See this article and this one, and also this column from vegan RD Ginny Messina.) There are also many concerns with coconut oil producion, of which most people are not aware.

Photo from this article

We vegans try to "do no harm".  But, when the "developed" world goes crazy for a particular product, it often has a huge impact on the farmers who raise it, the soil and other aspects of the environment, deforestation, loss of habitat for and endangerment of indigenous species of animals, etc., without any real improvement in the lives of the producers on the ground. This is the certainly case with palm oil, which now replaces hydrogenated fats in so many food items worldwide, as well being used in cosmetics, cleaning products, etc.  (See the end of this page for more info on the palm oil problem.) And now there are even harmful effects being seen from our addiction to avocados-- for more about this issue see this article, and this, and this, and this, and lastly, this one.  BUT we also need to be aware of the coconut issue.

Please read the info in WHY CRUELTY-FREE COCONUT OIL? at the bottom of this post.  And see this article for a list of cruelty-free brands of coconut products and other products that contain coconut oil. Silk and So Delicious brands use cruelty-free coconut products.

WHY CRUELTY-FREE COCONUT OIL?

See this article for a list of cruelty-free brands of coconut products and other products that contain coconut oil.

See photographs at this article: "Life in chains: Heartrending pictures of caged Indonesian monkeys being sold to coconut farmers"

Published earlier this year, the most comprehensive article I read, Pay Coconuts, Get Monkeys, gives us an idea  of what life is like for these monkeys, how valuable they are economically, and how legal loopholes enable trainers and “zoos” to essentially get away with animal abuse and neglect.

Early on in the piece a man called Noi Petchpradab, who has been training macaques to harvest coconuts for thirty years, was interviewed and discusses daily life for these working monkeys: "When they are not working, the animals are chained to tree stumps, which Mr. Noi said is due to their aggressiveness. They are given three daily meals, consisting of rice mixed with Lactasoy milk."

Photo from this article

The article also goes on to say:

"Due to their ability to work for long hours, the macaques are capable of collecting 600-1,000 coconuts per day, compared to only 100-200 for humans. On a few occasions, he admitted, the monkeys are so tired they faint.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/8gWEsNL-RJc

This practice will surely continue as long as there is both a market for coconut oil and consumers who are ignorant to the fact that this is even happening. Also, there will always be an economic incentive for people in these areas to use monkeys as performers as long as tourists are willing to spend money to visit them."

More articles:
http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/news/monkeys-harvesting-coconuts-thailand/

http://www.eatplantsnotanimals.com/animal-related-issues/uk-companies-confirmed-to-not-use-coconuts-picked-by-monkeys/

http://animalplace.org/did-a-monkey-pick-your-coconuts/

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2016/10/is-your-coconut-oil-cruelty-free/

Monkey being sold in Indonesia; photo from this article

Tourists photographing monkeys made to perform; photo from article in Bangkok Post

Sincerely,