YOUNG ANIMAL HEROES
ASHA AND JIA KIRKPATRICK
Sisters persuaded cereal giant Kellogg’s to change its palm oil policy to help save orangutans threatened by devastating deforestation.
When Asha and Jia learned that the production of palm oil has a devastating impact on the habitats of orangutans, they had to do something.
Asha, 13 and Jia, 11 were particularly concerned to discover palm oil was in their favourite breakfast cereals, made by Kellogg’s.
The sisters decided to boycott Kellogg’s products until it changed its palm oil policy and started a petition asking the business to make a commitment to sustainably sourcing palm oil.
They gathered more than 780,000 signatures and Kellogg’s bosses agreed to meet them in December 2018. The company promised to launch an inquiry into their palm oil supply chain and discussed the idea of having a rainforest friendly logo for products which do not use palm oil. Two years on the company has amended its Global Palm Oil Policy, pledging 100% of its palm oil would be sustainably sourced by 2025.