Chew on this - Glee Gum
by TreeHugger on 11.24.04
Hooray for Glee! We Treehuggers addicted to gum understand why the little Glee Gum man is jumping up and down. Glee gum in its retro-cool packaging is not only free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, but it’s also made with the traditional gum base, chicle, a resin from the Chiclezapote tree, instead of the polymers, plasticizers found in most gum.
The Chicle in Glee comes from the Peten region of Guatemala where tapping Chiclezapote trees plays a key part of the traditional economy. Trained and apprenticed “chicleros” hike far out into the rainforest to hand tap trees they select for sustainability- virgin trees or ones whose scars show that they have not be tapped for years. Sure, it sounds like they are hurting the trees, but Chicleros are actually known as "guardians of the forests" and cut only deep enough to allow the resin to bleed out, but not so much as to expose the trees to infestation or infection.
Hey, it’s tradition. It sustains the economy, protects the rainforests…and the tangerine flavor is faboolicious. (Cinnamon and peppermint are excellent too)
It’s about a buck a pack at any local store that’s smart enough to carry it. Or buy a case online.$9.99::Mother Nature [by Tamara Holt]
