Why? We all know palm oil is bad. So why is it used? And what can we actually do?
CRUSHING FACT
In Malaysia and Indonesia, rainforest areas the size of the UK have been destroyed, long with half the Bornean orangutan population.
The problem is that it is just SUCH a versatile oil. It’s semi-solid at room temperature and can hold all sorts of ingredients together, it fries without spoiling, preserves, makes crisps crispier, foams shampoo, soaps and detergents, helps solidify cosmetics, and keeps ice-cream from melting quickly. And that’s just for starters. So basically it’s everywhere.
The tragedy is that to fulfil this insatiable demand, primary rainforests are burned and cleared, gone forever. Palm oil is such an important economic opportunity, that poorer countries will (sometimes understandably) produce it at any cost to the environment.
Devastating. So why don’t we stop immediately? Well, the reality is that world is not going to stop needing palm oil anytime soon. And since oil palms grow considerably faster than any other oil producing plant using as much as 10 x less land, switching away from it could lead to even more deforestation.
So the key is supporting efforts to make it sustainable. The problem is that the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) - in Greenpeace’s words - is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. It took 14 years for the RSPO to ban its members from destroying forests, which it finally did in 2018. It still hasn’t actually enforced this (!) and members are still destroying forests and getting away with it. In short then, the effort can only truly be led by the companies actually buying the palm oil. And that’s where we come in.
Tell me more?
This shocking ad by Greenpeace brought a rapid response from Nestle. Why? Because the public recoiled. Companies care (panic) about what we think. Outrage = no sales.
It can massively help having the experts doing it on our behalf. After more than six years of campaigning, The Rainforest Action Network successfully worked with PepsiCo to adopt and implement a new global policy that ensures the palm oil in their entire supply chain will not involve deforestation, wildlife destruction, or human and labour rights abuse. This means that not only will products produced for PepsiCo have truly sustainable Palm Oil, but all products sold to third parties from those producers will too. This is huge! In theory. They have to be held accountable to ensure this becomes reality. So…
First: Let’s support the Rainforest Action Network to continue to enforce accountability.
Second (an important one this): Respond to this consultation that could see it become law for UK businesses to protect rainforests by cleaning up the UK's supply chains. That’s what we need. It takes 3 minutes. And it seriously counts.
Third: Let’s choose consciously and support the players making the most progress. The WWF assesses the major corporates each year - here’s the 2020 leaderboard. And the Giki app is brilliant for checking the overall sustainability of a product by a quick scan of the barcode while you shop. Neat!
Finally: the less processed the better. Fresh whole foods don’t contain palm oil. Simples.
With thanks to our subscriber, Sian, for asking us to look into this - a meaty one!
Have something you’d like us to look in to? Ping it over or post it below and we’ll get to work.
We…
Aimee: This was all new news to me and what a minefield! I use Pip & Nut peanut butter which boasts being palm oil free - after researching this, I had to do a quick check on whether they use any other vegetable oil instead, but they don’t - phew! I’m now supporting RAN with their work and have replied to the UK government consultation.
Sonia: Since our action on tree planting I’ve been supporting the Rainforest Alliance in a small way. Not quite on point with the palm oil angle, but serves the same end goal, so I’m happy with that. UK Government consultation done. And I love the Giki app. Changed my coffee brand after a quick scan. Feels good.
“Don’t palm us off with tosh”