Palm oil Debate

Holly Plackett
Written by Holly Plackett

This is perhaps a little off topic but I believe that if we are looking into ensuring our health and wellbeing on a day to day basis then the environment we live in and the food we eat is an important element of this.

I don’t know about you but I worry daily about what is happening in the world both environmentally and spiritually. There are so many people out there fighting to make the world a better place for all living organisms, not just human beings, but there just as many if not more out there who are chasing money daily. Now I don’t mean the small amounts needed to survive on, I mean the big money, the amount of money no human being actually needs to have, and they do all this to the detriment of their fellow man and any other creature, big or small, that crosses their paths. Money first, lives of any living creatures second.

Let’s start with Palm Oil. You’ve probably read all sorts of things about Palm Oil. I don’t know about you but I find the palm oil issue is confusing. There are so many questions, so many points of view, so much to take into consideration.

  • Do we stop using it or can it be produced sustainably so that we can continue using it?
  • Why is palm oil bad?
  • What products contain it?
  • Is the palm oil in these products sustainable?
  • Do all products label their products so that you know it contains palm oil?
  • Is there a certificate (like rainforest alliance) that will help consumers know if the palm oil a product is sustainably sourced?
  • What exactly does sustainable palm oil mean?

How far would you be willing to alter your life to reduce or completely eliminate palm oil from your diet?

I came across this debate about Palm Oil on the Guardian website. You’ll find a whole range of articles and information on this site: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/series/palm-oil-debate

Then we have the RSPO which stands for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Here is a link to the consumer area of their website: http://www.rspo.org/consumers

To be able to make a rational decision on your stand on Palm oil you need to be in possession of all the facts or at the least as many as you can get your head around. These two websites will hopefully give you a starting point to work from. As I come across new websites I believe will help you gather information I will update this post.

I would love to hear what you think about Palm oil, its use, sustainability etc as well as how you have or plan to change the way you live to reduce your usage or completely eliminate your use of Palm Oil.