To tell you to buy these palm-oil containing products

[Imchlibob]

Not a TAAT but something that I think deserves a thread of its own.

This is the snippet that I started responding to before realising that it needs a new thread.
Does have palm oil in it sadly but I think all spreads do.

The below is based on what I recall from a brief presentation at a zoo so I may have some details wrong but the broad thrust is accurate.
Not all palm oil is bad. See here.

There is sustainable palm oil - currently about 10% of the palm oil market - and the environment-destroying kind is the other 90%. But that 10% is struggling to grow because so many of us are avoiding all palm oil. Obviously a lot of people don't have time, energy or funds to let palm-oil issues dictate their shopping list. Those of us who do can have a better impact on the environment by supporting sustainable palm oil than by boycotting all palm oil.

For the same surface area of land a palm-oil plantation can produce 4 or 5 times as much oil as other oil crops like olives, sunflowers, rapeseed etc - no wonder food producers favour it. If it weren't for the devastating effect of monoculture plantations on biodiversity and habitat destruction it would be a miracle crop, dramatically reducing the quantities of land needed for farming. A sustainable palm-oil plantation works to maintain biodiversity and habitats by interspersing natural local plant life with the palm trees. Whilst this reduces the productivity to more like 3-4 times the volume produced by other crops that's still enough to be actually beneficial to the environment overall.

those of us who have thus far been boycotting all palm oil should instead make an active effort to buy and use products with sustainable palm oil - and if you have the time then write to the manufacturers of competitor brands that use unsustainable palm oil saying that you would be able to buy their products if they switched to sustainable palm oil.

It's generally unlikely that any large-scale food manufacture would re-write their recipe to exclude palm oil. However re-writing their buying policy to buy only sustainable palm oil is much more realistic.

Growing the proportion of the palm-oil market that uses sustainable product will have a much greater impact than boycotting the substance altogether.

A coalition of conservation charities are working together to publish this message - please do not boycott all palm oil - but please insist on sustainable palm-oil only

pdf document (2MB) of brands that use sustainable palm oil

Thank you, this is very interesting. I hadn't realised that there was sustainable palm oil, so will be looking to change things I buy.

Excellent document, thank you

Thank you OP - I honestly had no idea that any palm oil was sustainable. Thanks for collating so much information!

Bet it still tastes like shit...

I don't want to buy Cadbury, thank you.

And if all those major brands are genuinely buying truly sustainable palm oil, then it can hardly be a minor market - it would be an expanding market, surely? So what's the catch issue?

Are these big buyers driving down prices and wages in the countries that supply 'sustainable' palm oil?

MunchausensLovelyHorse - well dont then! No one is forcing you. The OP was just an informative post on who you could still buy off.

My DC were delighted by the whole thing - I have been saying for months that the mahoosive jar of nutella they have been working through since Christmas would be the last jar we bought because we will be boycotting palm oil from now on in order to save the orangutans. Zoo presentation lady told me in front of the kids (at their behest) that I should continue buying Nutella. I'm actually quite annoyed as I think it's vile stuff anyway. But heigh ho.

Whilst I'd rather fill my shopping trolley with natural unprocessed foods I do live in the real world with fussy kids that prefer everything processed. At least we can make sure that where there's an option to choose, it's easier to choose the sustainable one.

Great post op.

Ferrero in particular are very hot on supply chain sustainability and all their palm oil is sustainable. They make Nutella and kinder products etc as well as the obvious ferrero rocher.

Isn't even sustainable palm oil an environmental problem?

Also palm oil is so high in saturated fat you're often better off with even butter or cream. Which is saying something!

Oh that's brilliant - thanks OP. Will look more into it.

That's really interesting, thank you. I, too, had no idea. My DC scan product ingredients when we go shopping and although Nutella is DD's favourite thing she eschewed it to save the orangutangs and tut tuts me if I buy something with it in.

Thank you OP!

I'll still boycott palm oil, because its crazy to ship veg oil around the world when we can produce it at home.

No palm oil for me. Greasy taste and high in saturated fat.

I made products using sustainable palm oil, but as soon as you mention palm oil, people don’t want to know. So now I avoid all palm oil in my products. Sad, but better to sell than not.

Thank you for the info though OP.

Example European country grows enormous fields of one crop like wheat, rapeseed, potatoes. The land historically was once forest or heathland with bio diversity. Compared to a devoloping country that chops down forest to grow a single crop of palm oil. Nobody ever takes into account history in this arguement. How can developed countries tell the new countries to stop something that we have already done ? What is the solution ?

It makes things taste horrible though?

I don't want palm oil in my chocolate thanks very much. Don't want it in my food at all to be honest.

Even sustainable palm oil is bad, for the environment, and for us. Worse for species such as orang utans, obviously.

I think you may be BU, but with the best intentions.

The ‘sustainable’ palm oil referred to in your links is RSPO certified. That does not necessarily mean the palm oil is ethical.

Rainforest Action Network are asking people to email RSPO via this link asking them to do better, especially regarding child labour:

www.ran.org/suspend_indofood

It takes 2 mins. Plus there is a link to the full 2017 report on that page.

“... RSPO’s complaint system is weak, its auditing system flawed and rife with corporate conflicts of interest, and enforcement of noncompliant grower members is lax.”

From: www.ran.org/ngos_call_for_systemic_reforms_to_rspo_certification_scheme_beyond_standards_review

I thought people avoided it because it is extremely unhealthy, clogs up arteries, can cause cholesterol, heart problems, strokes etc. In some developing countries it is used extensively because it is very cheap and people are not educated about how unhealthy it is. E.g. I have seen some very good Italian biscuits stressing that they are made without it because people are wary of the implications of consuming it.

But even RSPO certified palm oil is not great. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundtable_on_Sustainable_Palm_Oil It would be good as well to know more about the supply chain that verifies the RSPO certification, as has been seen across the EU they are not that reliable.

Screenshot from: www.ran.org/suspend_indofood

RAN report from November 2017.
As far as I can see, OP, the WWF info you link to on RSPO is from 2013.

I refuse to buy any product containing palm oil not only because of the environmental impact but because food products containing it taste of shit.

Approximately 18% is supposedly sustainably produced while 82% continues to decimate rainforest and wildlife habitats.

It's not only used in food - if you want an idea of the other sort of products take a look at the attached link: drpongo.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/productpalmoillist2012flexweek.pdf

I shall continue to boycott ALL products containing palm oil, even though it quadruples the time it takes to place my supermarket orders, although I'm pretty aware of most things to avoid, there are always itrms which may suddenly change their ingredients.