Geoffrey Purcell wrote:
> I don't personally think there's all that much difference between vegetable-oils, as they are all affected by heat to some extent, one way or another. But I understand that some people feel the need to compromise. It's just that opting for olive-oil avocado-oil is more environmentally-friendly than coconut-oil or palm-oil. Ideally, one should only boil, if one cooks at all, but , admittedly, the taste of boiled meat doesn't quite compare to fried foods.
>   

I have found that "environmentally friendly" is ultimately not a 
critical buying criteria for me although I do find using "fair trade" 
certified and/or organic products a good choice.  Health and savings in 
time/money are high on the list of buying criteria.  For example, using 
cloth diapers is more environmentally friendly than using disposable 
diapers, yet how many people want to do the EXTRA work of dealing with 
cloth diapers? (We've used both with several children first with cloth 
(cheaper in money but expensive in time) but as we gained more resources 
disposables were used.)

Personally, olive oil works for me.  Coconut oil is also effective but 
I'm not too fond of the flavor.  I don't see how olive oil or avocado 
oil can be environmentally friendly as they take up valuable habitat to 
cultivate as well.  While some look at how land has been reoriented 
towards coconut and/or palm oil and see a habitat loss, olive and 
advocate trees happened to require the same land reorientation but most 
of it happened a long time ago.  I recommend that it is very rational 
for one to choose what they personally find most healthy.  If their are 
consequences to their choice, then prices will go up or down over time 
to reflect that (assuming that regulations don't interfere from market 
forces finding the point where value=cost).

Steve