I need some help with this?!

There are natural shortenings. They are called "butter" and "lard", both of which CAN be made at home (you need hog fat to make lard, though. Butter can easily be made out of whipping cream).

Contrary to popular belief, shortening is not necessarily "vegetable shortening" that you buy in a can. A shortening is a solid fat that is used in baking. Its function is to "shorten" the gluten strands in baked goods, which make them soft and tender. It can be ANY solid fat. Butter, margarine, lard and vegetable shortening are the most common type of shortenings used in baking.

If you want a more natural shortening, just use butter or lard. It can be substituted directly for vegetable shortening. And no, there is no way to make vegetable shortening at home. Vegetable shortening is hydrogenated vegetable oil, which takes special industrial equipment to make and they are made with food chemicals that help stabilize and preserve the shortening. Thats just one of the things about processed foods; they always contain food chemicals. Vegetable shortening is HIGHLY processed, so its going to contain all that crap. There really isn't any way around it.

chef
culinary school grad
29 years in the industry