Sustainable Palm Oil

Organic and Sustainable Palm Oil

Organic and sustainable palm oil must be better, right?

Certified organic palm oil means it’s grown with fewer chemicals which is great. However, it could still have involved clearing rainforest, destroying habitat, harming people and killing animals – see why here.

Sustainable palm oil is not easy to find.

The only body which provides oversight to the palm oil industry is the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil).  But many of its members are directly involved in the industry so its standards are lax.

It does not ban deforestation or destruction of peatlands for the development of oil palm plantations.

Palm kernel oil, which is palm oil harvested from the pit rather than the fruit, contains even more fat, plus it cannot be obtained organically, as the oil must be extracted from the pit with a gasoline-like hydrocarbon solvent.

The RSPO does NOT ban deforestation or destruction of peatlands

What can the palm oil industry do?

There are steps palm oil producers can take to make palm oil more sustainable:

• Palm oil can be grown on degraded land instead of forested land,
• It can be grown on mineral soils instead of peat soils.
• Existing palm oil plantations can increase crop yields to reduce the need for new plantation expansion.

All of these things should be done – but often the easiest and cheapest ways are taken.

Companies that use palm oil in their products should commit to using only palm oil that doesn’t cause deforestation – and thankfully, some companies do – but not enough.

Palm oil has a huge impact on the environment, humans and animals. We need to be aware, and be mindful of our buying choices.

What Next?

Do you know the real problems with palm oil? Read about them here.

Want to avoid palm oil? Good! Read how, here.