Reports from people all across North America who participated in the Stick It to Palm Oil day of action are rolling in!
More than 2,000 people overwhelmed supermarkets with stickers reading “Warning! Product May Contain Rainforest Destruction” to raise awareness about the devastating consequences of palm oil expansion.
The stickers pointed shoppers to our all new website: www.TheProblemWithPalmOil.org
If you stickered yesterday, don’t forget to email me at StickItToPalmOil@ran.org
Here are the early reports and pictures:
Astoria, OR:
Chris stickering at Safeway:
Victoria, BC:
This is Tim reporting in from the recent stickering strike launched in Victoria BC, Canada this afternoon at about 6pm. It went off without a hitch. We hit up about a dozen or so products, peeling through about 60 stickers. Our sticker squad of three had a sweet time, and here are the pics to prove it.
All the best! Keep up the great work!
San Francisco, CA:
Stickered food and cosmetics that contain palm oil.
Reportback from Marie in Westmont, Illinois:
I grabbed a shopping cart and first went to the cereal aisle in Jewel. There was an employee that was stacking items a little ways from me. So I pretended to check out cereal boxes for info (palm oil, of course) As I picked up each box, I put a sticker on each one. I did about 10 boxes then moved to an aisle that was prominently displaying Keebler products. It was a very busy aisle but I picked up the packages and again read the labels and put the stickers on them. I finished the rest of the 20 stickers and couldn’t find the remaining ones. I went back to the cereal aisle but they weren’t there. After about 2 minutes looking I casually went back to my car and there they were.
My next trip was further down the road where there was a Dominicks. Again I grabbed a cart and proceeded to the candy aisle. I found where the M & M’s were. I put about 3 stickers on the packages when an employee approached me and asked if he could help me. I politely told him that I was just looking and he left. I thought for sure he caught me but he didn’t.
From the candy aisle, I went to where the ramen noodles were (they were on sale so I knew that they would be perfect to get the message out). From there, I went to the cookie aisle and finished putting the rest of the stickers on Keebler products.
I walked around the store with the shopping cart for a few seconds and then left the store.
All in all, it went as smooth as glass and I’m am glad that I did it.
What a great campaign and thanks for letting me help.
An anonymous sticker-er wrote:
I started wondering if the grocery stores had been alerted to watch for stickering activity. Although I was dressed very nicely and look conservative, a VERY OBVIOUS plain clothes person followed me up and down aisles. I wanted to say, “Try pushing a cart and look less obvious.”
Allie in North Carolina checked in:
So, I was very excited to Stick It To Palm Oil yesterday. I had gotten over 150 stickers in the mail last week and gathered quite a few friends for the day. We showed up at our local Harris Teeter ready for some action. We scattered in a few small groups. As me and my friend Francesco were bringing awareness to some 100 Calorie Packs, a man came behind me. He had a voice deep with southern drawl, broad shoulders and a potbelly. He said to me, holding up a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies in my face, “You want to explain this to me?”. I turned around and politely told him about this wonderful movement. He responded with a lecture about losing customers, and requested that I leave.
Of course, I gathered my crew and we left without any commotion.
Solana Beach, CA:
The South Beach Diet got a little makeover:
H Johnson wrote in:
I’m a shy person so I didn’t want to be seen stickering. I wore plain
dark clothes and made sure no one was looking before attaching my
stickers. I put 6 on cans of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee dinosaurs and the rest on
popcorn. I was relieved to find that at least one brand of popcorn did
NOT have palm oil. It only took a few minutes.
Denise got her sticker on at Target:
Even our own RYSE UP youth camp got to join in:
13 young people, armed with stickers and a great sense of humor arrived at the Pac-n-Save in Emeryville, CA on the 13th after spending a week together at the RYSE UP camping trip. We went in and looked up and down the isles, finding that nasty palm oil in just about every product in the store. One of the participants found that if she put the sticker on the price label on the shelf, it stood out even more. We got out scott free, after applying about 30 stickers in all.
Cris from New York:
Placing stickers on products was my first action with RAN. I have read a lot about our unsustainable way of living and have been frustrated doing nothing else than recycling and biking and using my backpack to pick up groceries. It made me feel part of a bigger movement.
I found a palm oil gold mine in the duane reade pharmacy. I was a bit nervous but it went swiftly. Congratulations for organizing this protest, I am now conscious about the damage of palm oil and won’t buy products made with it, I am sure many people that bought products that have the stickers will be enlightened too.
thank you
Send in your pictures and stories! StickItToPalmOil@ran.org
More to come …