Over the last few years, people have become more aware of the staggering number of everyday products that contain palm oil - from chocolate to lipstick… from pet food to cleaning products.
At the same time, we have become increasingly aware of the harmful consequences of its production - habitat destruction, biodiversity losses GHG emissions, and human rights issues.
You've probably seen one of the shocking videos of orangutans fighting for their home (80% of their habitat has been destroyed in the last 20 years - it's likely that they may become extinct in our lifetime).
As a result, amazingly, there has been massive growth in consumer awareness, and many people are choosing to avoid products containing palm oil.
However, the solution is not as simple as 'boycott palm oil'. Here's why...
Whilst palm oil is just another vegetable oil, like sunflower oil, it happens to have properties that make it very versatile and useful in products. It is also relatively cheap to produce, and the crop is really productive, meaning high yields. It also requires fewer fertilisers & pesticides than other vegetable oil crops.
There is such a high demand for products requiring palm oil that boycotting it will cause producers to switch to using other vegetables oils - which are less efficient, requiring more land and energy to grow, creating a potentially bigger problem.
This is why using palm oil might be a good idea... but we NEED to make sure it's sourced responsibly.
How do we do that? Well, this can be difficult since products containing palm oil don't always list it in their ingredients. Palm oil can be manufactured into many (500+) different chemicals called palm oil 'derivatives’. It is these derivatives that are listed on packaging. It is impossible to learn all of them, and therefore it can be very difficult to know if any given product contains palm oil.
What's the solution then?
First of all, go check out the Ethical Consumer webpage on palm oil – they have a long list of common supermarket products that are free from palm oil. You can also check out the WWF Palm Oil Scorecard.
Secondly, familiarise yourself with the RSPO logo:
It is the most highly regarded certification for sustainable palm oil.
Finally, try to limit the number of products you buy that contain vegetable oils. It's important to understand that the problem isn't palm oil itself, it's the demand for palm oil. Whilst there remains a high demand for products containing vegetable oils, producers will supply this demand and the problems will stay.
How do we limit our demand for palm/vegetable oil products? In general, highly-processed & packaged food products are more likely to contain vegetable oils. Whether, it's sweets, chocolate, cakes, crisps, biscuits, sauces, super noodles… all these products have undergone a high level of processing to create the desired taste, texture, and give the best eating experience. Palm oil helps achieve this.
So, as the production of palm oil is tied to the production of processed and packaged foods, one easy way to reduce our demand for palm oil is by buying fewer processed foods. A good way to achieve this is by increasing the amount of fresh, local, and seasonal foods in your diet. This will also contribute to improving health, as well as reducing plastic consumption.
…Don’t worry though, this isn’t to say you should NEVER eat any packaged & processed foods! Nor is it to say that all packaged products will contain palm oil. It’s just important to be more mindful of the foods we eat, what they contain, and the impacts our food decisions have.
I give palm oil-free biscuits 10/10
This has been a very quick jump into a very large topic – if you’re interested in learning more, here is a list of articles and publications that explore this subject more deeply
Comments