Don't boycott palm oil products

Not buying palm oil does not necessarily mean buying more environmentally unfriendly products.

Foodwise, just buy fewer processed foods, Cook from scratch using real food, make your own biscuits and cakes, or just eat less. It is easy to make your own ready meals. Double the quantity and freeze half.

I know toiletries pose more problems, but try seeing just how little of a product like shampoo or toothpaste, you actually need to get a good lather. I live in a very hard water area but need barely a smear of toothpaste and not much more that a teaspoon of shampoo. Once you have done that, pay more for toiletries that do not contain palm oil or substitute oils. The more expensive choices with practice will last twice as long as before,so will cost no more.

With respect Anna, it is an important issue though. The more information we have the better.
I’ve just looked at the list of foods using sustainable palm oil and I’ve just honed in on one- Tyrrlls crisps. I’m looking at a pack of kettle chips, they contain sunflower oil. Do any crisps contain palm oil?

In terms of using less palm oil, the amount used in foodstuffs is small compared to that used in diesel, the so-called biofuel. www.transportenvironment.org/what-we-do/biofuels/why-palm-oil-biodiesel-bad Making changes there would have a greater impact.

It's a matter of finding the balance. Palm oil has allowed countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia to leap forward in development terms. We can't just tell them they must accept a lower standard of living than people in the West, we need to help them find sustainable ways of having enough resources to improve the lives of their peoples.

With respect this is not a new issue.

I am always wary of any knee jerk reaction to the latest thing we are supposed to be outraged at, and I think palm oil is one of those.

When I watched the banned Iceland advert (interestingly narrated by the queen of Leftie luvvies herself Emma Thompson) the obvious question seemed to be to wonder what the alternative would be to palm oil. Would any alternative also necessitate cutting down rain forests?

It's very easy to take a certain message at face value without looking into the facts.

PS I make my own bread. No palm oil or lard needed. It helps extend the shelf life.

There’s a backlash from the powerful palm oil lobby, they are trying to sell us the idea that palm oil is a necessary evil and the alternatives are even worst. Not true. All they are concerned with is their profit margin.

I’d rather believe in Iceland, Greenpeace and the other environmental agencies who have seen this destruction first hand. I’ve just had an email from the WWF asking me to sponsor an orphaned baby urang utan ?

My understanding is that Palm oil is used in many processed products, including bread, because the recipe requires a hard fat to achieve a satisfactory result. Palm oil is necessary bencause other hard fats are derived from animal fats, such as lard. I therefore agree with Nonnie that only sustainable palm oil should be used.

But surely, they still have to clear forests even to grow this "sustainable" palm oil. Don't suppose the wildlife feel it's very sustainable for them. It's horrible stuff anyway.

Most palm oil produced isn’t sustainable. You have to read labels carefully and if it doesn’t say “ sustainable” palm oil then don’t buy it. It’s not very healthy and why they put it in about every imaginable processed food I’ve no idea - possibly because it’s cheap , which probably means some poor folks are being exploited.

Nonnie there was a programme about these trees " vanishing " from the habitats where the orang-utan live/breed and the animals will become extinct if their source of food is depleted.
News North West gave a snippet of those animals at Chester zoo and the zoo-keeper had expressed his concern about there being a shortage of palm leaves the diet of these animals and this zoo isn't the only one that houses these orang-utans.

Similar problem in Australia with the eucalyptus the koalas staple diet----not so much the medicinal side but because of bush fires and it would be sad to see the demise of these animals for future generations. There aren't so many orang-utans on the planet as there once was. We can have alternatives,they can't.

Ellan but it doesn't decimate trees, that was the whole point of my post! It is only when it is done irresponsibly that that happens.

Think back some years when we cooked with lard because we didn't have rapeseed and sunflower oils. They are now part of our staple diet and so could palm oil be if it is grown responsibly. Research so far seems to show it is as harmless as anything else.

Yes, but things like eggs and milk are harmful to people who are allergic to them and no one thinks they should be boycotted. I wouldn't suggest that anyone with an allergy ate palm oil but I think people have become hysterical about palm oil. Do read the links, they are informative.

Nonnie we must devour all kinds of muck and unless certain products such as palm oil has undergone extensive testing on its safety it will remain to be a danger to health in those who have certain allergies,and look how many allergies have cropped up recently.

It might be harmless I don't know but I wouldn't like to be a party to using a derivative of food that keeps a species of animal from becoming extinct.

What's wrong in using what we grow such as rape and sunflowers ? Why does the process have to include the decimation of a large area of trees ?

But the alternatives are worse for the environment. The point I was hoping I had made was that responsibly sourced palm oil is not doing any harm and means we are not using more damaging products.

Please send a link to whatever research has been done to say it is bad for our health as I haven't read any. I have read that it now replaces trans fats which would appear to be a good thing. I found this:

Is palm oil bad for you?
Palm oil has a high saturated fat content, which can be harmful to cardiovascular health. However, one study found that, when consumed as part of a balanced diet, “Palm oil does not have incremental risk for cardiovascular disease.” The vegetable oil is also a great source of tocotrienols, a form of vitamin E - an “antioxidant that provides protection to your cells and that can reduce your risk of certain health problems such as heart disease and cancer,”

Difficult isn't it?

I just think there has been a lot of knee jerk reaction from people who have only read the headlines and we could end up eating much worse things instead.

Nonnie yes I would boycott this oil as there are other products without having to destroy the habitats of orang-utans. Besides it not being good for anyone's health.

I have read that palm oil is a saturated fat and so not good for cardiovascular health. There's also been a question of refined palm oil causing problems with the kidneys and sperm count. Its almost impossible to buy products that don't contain palm oil so there is also the consideration of simply taking on board just too much of the stuff, it's hardly a naturally available food item for those of us in the northern hemisphere!

Tansy if you read the article you will see that the alternatives are more damaging to the environment.

I for one, am still boycotting palm oil. Absolutely dreadful taste. It's ruined so many products.

Ellan not sure of your point, do you think we should stop using palm oil altogether?

It's not just about the depletion of palm oil that animals feed off it's thousands of other trees being given the chop where habitats have been decimated. Other trees go directly to the consumer to make high-end furniture an unnecessary evil and rank cruelty to animals by stealing their homes.
We need trees to alleviate flooding in certain areas of our on country as well as that of the rain forests.
I feel more strongly about this than any other subject attached to ecology.

Interesting. Glad I read this. Nutella back in favour!