Liz Lovely: Baking a Difference
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA 
on 09.18.07
The tastiest triple threats to come out of Vermont, Liz Lovely's scrumptious baked treats are now organic, fair-trade- and vegan-certified, making the line of cookies the first nationally distributed product of its kind to acquire all three certifications.
"Our new recipe uses only sustainably harvested organic palm fruit oil in place of the processed egg and butter substitutes we were using previously," says Dan Holtz, Liz Lovely's vice president of sales, in a press release. "It’s also important to note that, unlike palm kernel oil, palm fruit oil is heart-healthy and 100 percent free of trans-fat."
The cookie maker joined forces with the Vermont chapter of the Northeast Organic Farmers Association and TransFair USA to identify available ingredients, set up audit trail systems, and prepare the business for organic- and fair-trade certification with the respective organizations.
Liz Lovely's dairy- and egg-free baked goods have been certified vegan by Vegan Action since the company's launch in 2003. ::Liz Lovely
Thanks to tipster Felicia!
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Mmmm. Makes me hungry.
The link to the earlier article states cocnut oil is high in saturated fat / cholesterol. I would like to clarify (pun intended) that with a reference to http://nutiva.com/
"Since the 1960s, coconut oil has been unfairly labeled as 'unhealthy.' The media reported studies of how tropical coconut oils were laden with artery-clogging fats. What wasn't reported was the fact that the coconut oil used in the studies was hydrogenated — not the virgin oil used for centuries as a staple food. We now know it's hydrogenation — artificially adding a hydrogen molecule to oils in order to make them shelf-stable — that's the problem, not coconut oil. Hydrogenated soy, corn, and canola oils — loaded with dangerous trans-fats and processed with toxic hexane solvents — are routinely added to packaged foods. Hydrogenation fattened corporate profits and American waistlines, and is now linked with diseases."
I use coconut oil as a substitute for vegetable oil, shortening and butter in all of my baking, and nearly all of my cooking, including seasoning my cast iron skillets with it.
Thanks MrTim,
This is a good message for all who hesistate to use coconut oil.So ur message will be helpful for the poor farmers in Kerala,southern part of India.
The place name itself dervived from coconut."Kera'
in local language means-Coconut.here people wholly depend on these palms for making Home in earlier days now given way for concete homes .Palm leaves Which was mostly available for tatching their roofs.Coir made from the shell.Spoons from shell.Bark as wood and the use go on till the food where some part of coconut is used daily.
Thing is whole coconut palm is usable and eco friendly too,grown plenty in the costal areas.
Sreyass from Kerala,India
It's great that they're organic, fair-trade- and vegan-certified. Did anyone notice that the cookies also cost about $2 each?!? Not per pack but $2 per cookie! That doesn't include the shipping costs (both monetary and carbon-footprint).
Goodness knows that I've got the Vermont-love thing going on as my family's been there since 1790 but for this is ridiculous. Get your kids together, go to your local natural food store and make your own cookies at home.
I love TreeHugger but am getting increasingly annoyed at the whole "Green Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" vibe that's been going on.
Not to disparage the baker, but it seems it would be even greener if it didn't have that nice large plastic bag around each serving.
Come on people. The price of ingredients and running a business is outrageous in America. I've had two wholesale health food bakeries, and can tell you $2.00 a cookie is more than fair.The cookies in our local health store cost more and have lousier ingredients. Just because it's called a "cookie" it's an assumption it should be cheaper. The real point is the cost of the ingredients used, plus organic farmers don't get government subsidies. Does anyone complain about a five dollar cup of NON ORGANIC coffee from Starbucks? Also, you are assuming the packaging is plastic, it could be cellophane, which is more earth friendly and is being used more and more.