Because there’s nothing as wholesome and pure as clear cutting rainforests and wiping out endangered species to save a couple of bucks when you’re already guaranteed a healthy profit margin.

We pay an arm and a leg for dairy products thanks to a government legislated monopoly in Canada, In return for mediocre products and no choice.

And surprise, surprise the quality of butter is dropping.

For months now, thousands of Canadians have complained on social media that butter is harder than it used to be and that it doesn’t get softer at room temperature.

Now we find they’re being cheap with what they feed their cows and making up the difference with palm oil. Otherwise known as orangutan juice.

To put it simply palm oil can increase the proportion of saturated fat in milk, thus raising the melting point of butter. A review by Dairy Research and Extension Consortium of Alberta found that butter made from cows fed palm oil remains difficult to spread at room temperature.

But the government’s making sure its safe right?

Little research has been conducted on how feeding palmitic acids to dairy cows could compromise the health of both animals and humans.

So what exactly are we paying for?

The use of palm oil breaches the moral contract the dairy industry has with Canadians. Unlike the situation in other countries, milk is essentially a public good in Canada. Not only do dairy farmers have exclusive government-sanctioned quotas, which make it a privilege for the few to produce milk, but Canadian taxpayers have given $1.75-billion to the industry as compensation for increased global access to our markets under new trad deals such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, also known as the new NAFTA.

Not to mention the huge subsidy they get directly from consumers at the grocery store.

Story here.

More here.

The Food Professor has lots to say.