Truth be told, palm oil is damn delicious! Nutella, peanut butter, breakfast cereal, chocolates and cookies. But why does it spark so much controversy and should this be something you need to look out for, especially if you are vegan and strongly believe against the cruel treatment of animals and people.
The short answer is: if you're worried about the destruction of the rainforests, the extinction of endangered species, the displacement of indigenous communities and your own health and wellbeing, then it's a big fat YES!
In this blog post I'll talk about what palm oil is and where to look out for it, what's the problem with palm oil and 3 ways you can avoid using it. I'll also look at what Sustainable Palm Oil is and if that's all that it promises to be. By the end of this post, I'm fairly certain you will have all the facts to make a decision for yourself.
What is Palm Oil? Where is it used?
Palm oil, derived from the fruit of the oil palm, is an edible, odourless and colourless vegetable oil that is used for cooking, as an essential ingredient in thousands of products in our supermarkets and is even used as a biofuel in many countries around the world.
Why is it so popular? Palm oil has an incredibly high yield, which means that 35% of the global supply of vegetable oil is produced on just 10% of crop land. It's popularity comes from it's versatile nature, it has a long shelf-life and it's cheap. It is no surprise then that close to 50% of products in our supermarkets contain palm oil and global demand for palm oil is expected to triple by 2050.
Here is a basic list of some every day items that contain palm oil:
Packaged bread
Processed foods (such as pizza and instant noodles)
Snacks (cookies, crisps and doughnuts)
Icecream and Chocolates
Margarine and Cooking Oil
Breakfast Cereals
Makeup (like lipsticks)
Skin/haircare products (like soaps and shampoos)
Cleaning Detergents
You've pretty much guessed that it's everywhere and most of the time, you might not be aware that the items in your shopping basket contain palm oil, as it's often labelled generically as 'vegetable oil' or is known by 200 alternative names, so it would be very hard for an average consumer to be aware of what they are buying.
The Problem with Palm Oil
According to the WWF, 85% of palm oil is supplied by plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia (the rest is provided by 42 other countries in Africa and Latin America). The production and trade of palm oil has been responsible for raising millions of people out of poverty and is a major contributor to the GDP of these countries. So why has it earned such a bad reputation over the years?
Rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia are home to some of the most ancient forests in the world, providing a rich and diverse habitat for thousands of animal, plant and bird species, are being lost at an alarmingly high rate. According to some estimations, forest land equivalent to 300 football fields is being cleared every single hour for the plantation of oil palms!
The most common method used by plantation owners is known as 'slash and burn', in which not only some of the world's most biodiverse forests are completely destroyed but burning the carbon-rich peat soil covering the forest area releases millions of greenhouse gas emissions in our environment, contributing to climate change and the loss of essential carbon sinks.
The Palm Oil industry is also responsible for the displacement on indigenous communities and the forced eviction of local populations. In 2016, Amnesty International reported the widespread abuse of child and labour rights at palm oil plantations and accused corporate brands like Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble of turning a blind eye to the exploitation of the local workers in Indonesia.
The loss of the forests has meant the destruction of habitats supporting endangered species such as the orangutan, the pygmy elephant and the Sumatran rhino. According to the Orangutan Foundation International, Palm Oil is the leading cause of orangutan extinction, with 1,000 - 5,000 orangutans are killed each year at palm oil plantations.
How to Avoid Palm Oil? 3 Simple Ways to Cut Down
Now that you know the extremely serious and long-lasting effects of palm oil production, I'm thinking that you're considering your next step and want to know how can you avoid using products with palm oil. Essentilly, there are three ways you can do that.
1. Buy Less or Make Your Own
The easiest option would be to buy fewer products that contain palm oil in the first place. Take look at the list above of the products that contain palm oil, are there products that you can go without? Can you find alternatives for them? Here are some tips to help you get started:
Consume less processed food and foods that contain high level of saturated fats, as it's very likely that these food groups have some form of palm oil in them.
Cook from scratch and you can avoid using palm oil which is often found in ready-to-eat meals. Instead you can use 'cleaner' cooking oils like coconut and olive oil.
Make your own cleaning products. You can learn the basics from my guide for making your own products using natural ingredients.
2. Go Palm Oil Free:
The next best thing would be to buy products that are clearly labelled as palm-oil free. The good news is that more and more supermarkets are moving towards offering palm oil-free products. Iceland (a supermarket in UK) pledged to remove all products containing palm oil from their brand labels by 2018. Although, this may not have been fully realised, it still shows the comittment that businesses are ready to make.
You also need to be careful of identifying palm oil derivates such as stear, laur and glyc and any ingredient with 'palm' listed in it. The Ethical Consumer has published a comprehensive list of products (and the supermarkets offering them) that are free from palm oil or use sustainable palm oil.
3. Use Sustainable Palm Oil
So is there still a way to buy your favourite products but without the environmental baggage attached to it? You can start by avoiding products with 'dirty palm oil' and instead shop with brands that are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), as 'Sustainable Palm Oil'.
Endorsed by WWF, RSPO certified products reflect a comittment towards sustainability by ensuring that the supply chain is free from deforestation, exploitation of the wildlife and supportive of the rights of workers and local communities. Today 19% of the global supply of palm oil is certified by the RSPO, but environmental NGOs like the Greenpeace believe that more stringent standards need to apply and currently the verification of the scheme is not robust enough.
So is there really a way we can ensure that palm oil has been sustainably sourced and that there has been no contamination by 'dirty' palm oil across the entire supply chain?! This time the simple answer is no. Although I do believe that it is the right step in the right direction and we can continue to put pressure on brands and businessess to do more and do it quickly before it's too late!
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