Palm Oil

[Spiral]

Another good reason not to have palm oil.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4273774.stm

Demand for crisps, bread, lipstick and soap could drive orang-utans to extinction, research suggests.
The UK alone imports nearly a million tonnes of palm oil a year for use in such products, but campaigners say plantations for it destroy rainforests.
Friends of the Earth and international ape conservation groups warn in a report that 90% of the animals' habitat in South East Asia has been wiped out.
Their research claims the apes could become extinct within 12 years.

[Pob]

Yeah, I just heard about that, too.

I don't think I eat much food with it in, anyway, but I'll have to change soap and try and avoid any foods with it in. A bad side effect (for humans) may be more reliance on hydrogenated oils in food, if the industry does reduce usage of palm oil.

[Spiral]

Palm oil is pretty bad for us as well.

[The_Lincoln_Imp]

Yes it's not a good fat in large amounts. More damaging to the habitat though is Tsunami affected humans cutting down forests to rebuild their houses as well as the logging for global wood also.

Blaming palm oil sounds like those who say vegans damage rainforest environments via soya production, delve deeper and see that 80% of soya goes to feeding livestock.

All the great apes are doomed in the wild, tipped to go extinct in our generation apparently. Even the closest relative of humans doesn't get any real consideration.

[harpy]

There is an article about this in the "Grauniad" as well:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/st...576681,00.html

Was thinking of dashing off a couple of e-mails to supermarkets I sometimes use, to ask them to join in the sustainable palm oil initiative mentioned in the article. I gather supermarkets sometimes take more notice of those sort of letters than you'd think, and as the article says, supermarkets have a lot of influence.

Edited to add that I avoid buying foods with palm oil in them as well, but I didn't mention that in my letters to Waitrose and Sainsbury's

[pixeequeen]

My dad told me he saw a tv article on palm oil having a bad effect on ape habitats, I think he said orangutans. anybody heard more on this?

[Pob]

It's true. Problem is that palm oil is not traceable, so it is not possible to say whether palm oil in a product comes from recently cleared rain forest.

Palm oil is a growth oil, as consumers are avoiding hydrogenated oils and saturated animal fats. Palm oil is the heathiest option for a solid fat. Unless you are an orangutan, of course. Demand is increasing, therefore clearing rainforest for planting it is cheap and profitable.

Until there is traceability, we have to assume that any palm oil comes from cleared rain forest.

[Pob]

It isn't just in foods, though, it's in soaps and cosmetics, too.

[harpy]

It isn't just in foods, though, it's in soaps and cosmetics, too.

Yes, indeed. Don't normally buy those in supermarkets so I guess I should e-mail someone else about those...

[Free_Tibet]

Please note this Press Release contains distressing information:

Embargo: 00:01 Friday 14th October 2005

SHOCKING NEW EVIDENCE OF THE DEADLY LINK BETWEEN PALM OIL AND ORANGUTANS

A pamphlet published today by the Borneo Orangutan
Survival (BOS) Foundation UK and Nature Alert provides photographic evidence and witness accounts of the horrific abuse wild orangutans suffer when they enter palm-oil plantations in search of food ¡V including shocking images of animals that have been butchered, burnt or buried alive. Of those that have survived, many have been sold into the illegal pet trade and one young female was shaved and offered up as a prostitute.

In order to catch a wild adult orangutan and tie it
down successfully, you would have to beat it
unconscious first. Most orangutans caught by
plantation workers die from concussion or internal
bleeding.¡¨
Lone Droscher Nielsen, Manager of Nyaru Menteng
Orangutan Reintroduction Project.

Wildlife rescue centres in Indonesia are over-flowing
with displaced and injured wild orangutans, including
orphaned infants, from areas where their forest
habitat is being relentlessly cleared and converted
into oil-palm plantations. One rescue centre, the
Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project, houses more than 380 victims
alone, with rescue teams operating on a daily basis. Meanwhile the centre is
under immense pressure to find areas of forest where these orangutans can be
released once they are healthy again. However, with the accelerating rate of
forest clearance, these animals have a dwindling chance of ever being
returned to the wild.

Palm oil is found in one in ten products on UK
supermarket shelves, including chocolate, crisps,
margarine, cereals, lipstick and soap. The palm oil
industry has been linked with large-scale forest
destruction, massive forest fires and human rights
abuses. However, palm oil could be produced in a
non-destructive manner: millions of hectares of
already degraded land are available for the
establishment of oil-palm plantations. But forested
areas continue to be cleared because of the quick
profit that can be made from the timber. This practice
places the palm oil industry as the greatest threat to
the continued survival of the orangutan in the wild.

¡§The rate of loss of orangutans has never been
greater than in the last three years, and oil-palm
plantations are mostly to blame. We are facing a
silent massacre, taking place far from where people
can see what is going on. ¡§
Dr Willie Smits, Founder of the Borneo Orangutan
Survival Foundation

UK companies have been accused of failing to take
effective action to ensure they do not buy palm oil
from destructive sources. Recent research carried out
by Friends of the Earth found that not one single UK
supermarket was able to reveal where the palm oil
originates in the products it sells.[1]

Due to corporate reluctance to take responsibility for
the impacts of their business, BOS is calling on the
UK Government to give company directors a legal duty
to minimise their environmental impacts through the
Company Law Reform Bill, which will have its first
reading in Parliament next month. They are also
imploring the Indonesian and Malaysian governments to introduce and enforce
legislation banning the
conversion of forests for agriculture.

The pamphlet and its accompanying website, also
launched today (www.SafePalmOil.org), demonstrate to consumers how they can
make a difference, and help save the orangutan from extinction. Actions
include writing to the CEO¡¦s of the top five supermarket chains to demand
non-destructive sourcing of palm oil, and contacting politicians to urge them
to support the Company Law Reform Bill.

Consumers must demand a commitment from
manufacturers and retailers to provide products which
meet basic expectations so that we are not unwittingly contributing to forest
destruction, species extinction and human rights abuses every time we visit
the supermarket.¡¨

Michelle Desilets, Director, Borneo Orangutan Survival
Foundation UK

Notes:
New graphic images of orangutans and palm-oil
development can be downloaded from
http://www.SafePalmOil.org
Broadcast quality footage of orangutans and
oil-palm plantations, newly acquired from the field,
is available from Nick Lyon & Evie Wright @ Cockroach
Productions, t: 01823 451 790,
cockroachproductions@....

Interviews with leading orangutan scientists and
campaigners, including Dr Willie Smits and Ian
Redmond, are available.

[1] A report, The Oil for Ape Scandal ¡V How palm
oil is threatening the orang-utan¡¨, is published by
Friends of the Earth together with the Borneo
Orangutan Survival Foundation. For a copy of the
summary or full report please go to:
www.palmoil.org.uk

For further information please contact:

Michelle Desilets, BOS UK Tel: 01296 640 542 Mobile:
07910 230 196
Email: bos_uk@...

Helen Buckland, BOS UK Tel: 01732 460902 Mobile:
07970 666 051 Email: palmoil@...

Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK Charity No:
1099591

Michelle Desilets
Director
BOS UK
www.savetheorangutan.org.uk
www.savetheorangutan.info
"Primates Helping Primates"

Please sign our petition to rescue over 100 smuggled orangutans in Thailand:
http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/822035733

[fragrantfree]

I heard not too long ago that palm oil should be avoided as it contributes to the distruction of the rain forest... doesn't stop there!

Here's a link for your reference:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodi...dies/palm_oil/

I noticed that the Pure margerine with sunflower has palm oil in it - I presume this is good palm oil?

[xwitchymagicx]

Oh I hope it is or I'll have to change it.

[DianeVegan]

Oddly enough, I just read that the cutting of iron wood trees in Indonesia has lead to the decrease of orangutan habitat. Let me give you my personal opinion. The overpopulation of humans has led to the decrease in all animal habitats. Just my 2 cents worth.

(By the way, 2 years ago I was replacing my deck and the salesperson offered us "formerly endangered iron wood, now available from Indonesia." I said "No thanks, I don't think I want to contribute to the rape of the Indonesian forests." Well, the salesperson almost fell off of his chair (and proceded to give me the composite wood, not the recycled composite wood I ordered - bastard) and my husband just left the room chuckling.

Why am I giving you this story? Look further into the history behind Indonesia and you may find more problems than answers. I am not saying that palm oil is bad (I need to look further into this myself). I'm just saying that there is seldom one culprit in any problem.

[fragrantfree]

If anyone can provide any information with regard to palm oil that would be fab - if palm oil really is a thumbs down, is the pure sunflower spread also a thumbs down since it contains palm oil?

[Yogini]

I recently bought a box of palm wax tealights because they're a vegan alternative to the cheap version. Are these bad, too?

Love,
Anna

[Seaside]

Here's some information. I guess if you could source palm oil of African origin it might be more ethical than the Asian or South American stuff, since oil palms are native to Africa.

[Yogini]

My tealights are by Palm Wax Candles. The box says that they are made in Indonesia. They also boast that this is a fair trade product and claim that their workers are treated very well. But they say nothing about being environmentally friendly. Sigh. What do other people here do for candles? I use the tea lights for aromatherapy jars, so they need to be unscented.

Love,
Anna

[fragrantfree]

I'm still a little lost... is it ok to use the product Pure spread, I know it states vegan on the packaging, but it does contain palm oil, but because of the vegan mark, are they telling us that their palm oil was from a good source? I suppose I could contact the manufacturer of the product, not sure? If there is a good and bad palm oil, how do you tell them a part?

[DianeVegan]

Okay, I look at it like this. I definitely know which oils are bad. I need to learn which oils are better. In the meantime, I will use what I think is best. And I will remember that anytime I use any resource on this earth, there will be negative repercussions. Only I can decide which repercussions are okay by me. So there will always be a "wrong" reason to burn a candle. (or make a flaky pie crust).

Face it, every time you flush a toilet, you do damage to the earth. Just know that you can justify your damage.

[dresdown]

Shoppers 'threat to orangutans'

Campaigners fear orangutans could become extinct


Demand for crisps, bread, lipstick and soap could drive orangutans to extinction, research suggests.



The UK alone imports nearly a million tonnes of palm oil a year for use in such products, but campaigners say plantations for it destroy rainforests.
Friends of the Earth and international ape conservation groups warn in a report that 90% of the animals' habitat in South East Asia has been wiped out.
A senior Malaysian politician dismissed the findings as "not correct".


Legal duty

The groups claim British supermarkets do not know where their palm oil is produced.
It is we who will have to explain to our children that the orangutan became extinct because of corporate greed


Ian Redmond
Ape Alliance


They are calling on the government to give company directors a legal duty to minimise their environmental impacts.

Friends of the Earth palm oil campaigner Ed Matthew accused the government of "failing to clean up its own backyard".
He said: "Over 100 UK companies and every single British supermarket is helping fuel the obliteration of orangutan habitat."


'Corporate greed'
The report, the Oil for Ape Scandal, said palm oil plantations have now become the primary cause of the orangutans' decline in Malaysia and Indonesia, which could result in the apes becoming extinct within 12 years.

Some experts estimated 5,000 orangutans perished as a result every year.

The research claimed at least 84% of UK companies failed to take effective action to ensure they do not buy palm oil from destructive sources.

Ian Redmond, chairman of the Ape Alliance, said if the government failed to act, "it is we who will have to explain to our children that the orangutan became extinct because of corporate greed and a lack of political will".

Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, the chief minister of Sarawak, Malaysia's largest state, challenged the report's findings, calling it "not correct, and misleading".

Mr Mahmud said palm oil plantations were mainly grown on land that had already been cultivated or in "secondary jungle".
He added that environmental impact studies were carried out before any oil palm trees were planted.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4273774.stm

[BadBoredBony]

just saw this on the news:

http://www.five.tv/news/?id=13500243&type=world_news

!

bbb
xxx

[veggiewoman]

I have jsut found these links about palm oil .
http://www.safepalmoil.org/index.html
http://www.foei.org/media/2005/0923.html
http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/sear...n=d&q=palm+oil

[veggiewoman]

also on the following link it says that Tesco to Join Sustainable Palm Oil Group
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/index.ph...tpage&Itemid=1
http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/wp...eportfinal.pdf

[veggiewoman]

just found this too
http://portal.campaigncc.org/?q=node...1b43e1ad5e2d37

[veggiewoman]

ALthough all the morrisons I have been in recenlty are rubbish anywa for selling vegan friendly products-none of them even had soya milk in , this next article is a very very veyr good reason to boycott them and make other peole aware that Morrisons dont care about the rainforests.
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/download..._morrisons.pdf

hope the link works and on your pc you should be able to zoom in to read it , if not it is basically saying that British supermarkets have been asked to join the roundtable on using sustainable palm oil, but Morrisons has refused ,saying it doesnt care where its palm oil comes from.

[veggiewoman]

http://www.orangutan.org.uk/index.ph...d=104&Itemid=7

[veggiewoman]

www.palmoil.org.uk you can e:mail Morrisons here , it also has good info too.

[veggiewoman]

I cant take any credit for this post as somebody else wrote it in another forum board :

regarding boycotts etc., please do not sit back and wait for Friends of the Earth or one of the Orangutan charities to tell you which products to avoid - please be a CONSIDERATE CONSUMER!!

STEP 1: check the ingredients of the products you intend to buy for any palm oil or unnamed vegetable oil (this is typically a mix of different oils with the main constituent being palm nut oil).

STEP 2: contact the RETAILER of the product and ask if they can prove the palm oil is from a sustainable source. regardless of the retailers response, make them aware of your concern and that you do not wish to buy products that contain oil from malaysian/indonesian plantantations that are not proven to be harmless to orangutan habitat. if they do not know about it, tell them about the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil www.sustainable-palmoil.org and ask them to join. you can see on the website, which companies have signed up.

STEP 3: contact the MANUFACTURER of the product (regardless of the response from the retailer) and communicate the same concerns.

STEP 4: boycott any product where the manufacturer or retailer are not interested in making sure they use sustainable oil.

if each consumer were to do this, then the manufacturers and retailers would get the message and understand why their products won't sell anymore if they do not take care where they source the ingedients.

writing letters (e.g. of complaint to Morrisons etc.) all helps(Tesco was finally convinced to join the RSPO)
maybe a peaceful protest outside these supermarkets would gain some worthy attention as well (a bit difficult for me personally as i am in indonesia now on the way to volunteer directly for the Orangutan Foundation).

vote with your pennies, but also make your opinion heard!

other websites of interest:

www.orangutans-sos.org Sumatran Orangutan Society

www.safepalmoil.org FoE/APE Alliance

www.foei.org Friends of the Earth

www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/oil_for_ape_full.pdf FoE report on palm oil (PDF)

www.helenbuckland.co.uk/palm info & resources from the author of the FoE report and coordinator of SOS UK

www.sustainable-palmoil.org/links.htm#WWF WWF infos

www.orangutan.org the Orangutan Foundation

www.savetheorangutan.org the BOS Bornean Orangutan Survival Foundation

www.4apes.com the Ape Alliance

[Cherry]

Yeh, I saw a documentary about Orangutangs, which makes me a bit wary of Pure. Maybe we should hassle them. (The Pure people, not the orangutangs.)

[Demon]

Please do. They have a standard response something like 'we are aware of the problem, at the moment it's impossible to tell where our palm oil comes from, we are working with suppliers to create a tracability scheme but it will take years to set up'.

I think the more people that ask, the more seriously they will take it.

[NoTallowFuel]

Hi. I just wanted to alert my fellow ethical vegans to the fact that not ALL food labelled as vegan and organic are ethical products, so please check the ingredients.

I'm VERY anti-Palm Oil and I know many vegans share this view, but certainly in products such as ice-cream Palm Oil can be a big ingredient.

Recently I bought a tub of organic vegan ice-cream that looked like a totally ethical product, but on checking the ingredients I found that after soy the biggest was 'organic' Palm Oil.

Personally I can't believe that ANY Palm Oil can be regarded as 'organic' and it has no place in a vegan product. You need to watch out for spreads and bread too. I've also found it as a main ingredient in some vegan fudge.

But is that just my opinion? I'd like to know your opinion too. Thanks.

[EllaGuru]

Hi,
I don't buy things that say they contain palm oil but it's difficult to avoid it altogether as the words 'palm oil' don't need to be labled on the list of ingredients just 'vegetable oil'. I just do my best to avoid as much of it as possible as I know that the rainforests are being destroyed and orangutans are being killed because of it's production

[harpy]

Palm oil doesn't have to be an ecological disaster - it just is . Last year I seem to remember we were writing to supermarkets etc about supporting the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - wonder if anything's happened there

http://www.geographical.co.uk/Featur...arch_2006.html
http://www.rspo.org/

[EllaGuru]

As far as I know Sainsbury's, Asda and M&S have signed up to support the RSPO so presumably all their own brand products contain palm oil that's sustainably produced. Does anyone know whether Tesco has signed up? The last I heard they hadn't.

[Pob]

Last I heard there was no way to know how sustainably the palm oil was produced. Plus there will never be enough sustainably grown palm oil to satisfy the world's demand for it.

[harpy]

Mind you I thought it was the idea of using it as biofuel that is the main problem? The amount that's used in food seems to represent a relatively small proportion of the total future demand? Not that that means we should accept it in food, of course.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ergy.indonesia

[Fuhzy]

Whew I thought you meant palm oil was made with an animal product!

[Kevin2]

Whew I thought you meant palm oil was made with an animal product!

I don't see the ethical difference between eating something that contains animal products and eating something that results in the loss of animal life. I'm not saying this to goad you; I just can't see what possible cause for relief you have.

[emzy1985]

I don't see the ethical difference between eating something that contains animal products and eating something that results in the loss of animal life. I'm not saying this to goad you; I just can't see what possible cause for relief you have.

I don't think he means it that way. I think it was meant to sound like "omfg they are putting non vegan things in vegan products that I'm eating!" Most people know about palm oil and I avoid it as much as I can, but some people don't. Perhaps it would be useful to have some links to some info about palm oil??

[bryzee86]

Yeah I think I'm gonna make the decision to try and phase out palm oil when and where I can from my diet. I can't contribute to this any longer.

[bryzee86]

As far as I know Sainsbury's, Asda and M&S have signed up to support the RSPO so presumably all their own brand products contain palm oil that's sustainably produced. Does anyone know whether Tesco has signed up? The last I heard they hadn't.

http://www.rspo.org/member_page.aspx...tid=3&ddlID=37

[Kevin2]

I don't think he means it that way. I think it was meant to sound like "omfg they are putting non vegan things in vegan products that I'm eating!" Most people know about palm oil and I avoid it as much as I can, but some people don't. Perhaps it would be useful to have some links to some info about palm oil??

Ahh OK... I still don't get it. But that's alright, and I don't mean to sound like I'm criticizing him (I purchase one particular product for which I'm pretty much on the opposite end of a similar discussion) but to me, as in personally, I don't see the difference between eating an animal and eating a product that directly caused the death of an animal. If anything, the outright eating of the animal seems more upfront and ethical than does the eating of a product that was created only through the death of an animal. Anyway, I think it was mostly the degree of relief expressed that has me wondering about the thought behind it.

Here is a link for palm oil. One thing I didn't realize is that the increased demand for palm oil is largely spurred on by the "trans fat" reduction campaigns - palm oil, unfortunately, doesn't contain it.

http://www.cspinet.org/palm/

[eve]

Kevin2, thank you for that very revealing website.

[Fuhzy]

I don't see the ethical difference between eating something that contains animal products and eating something that results in the loss of animal life. I'm not saying this to goad you; I just can't see what possible cause for relief you have.

From what I have found, consuming palm oil is no different than consuming any other oils, veggies, etc. Every plant we cultivate and harvest will naturally kill animals in the process, there is nothing we can do to avoid that...

[yum]

Oh my i have never heard of palm oil before- i find eating vegan hard enough as it is and so this is another ingredient i will be avoiding. Is it in alot of vegan food? Maybe we could make a list of things we know it is in to help us all
xxxxxx

[eco]

I do my best to avoid palm oil.
Lush are doing their best to cut out palm oil from their products.
http://www.newconsumer.com/news/item/3149/

[bryzee86]

From what I have found, consuming palm oil is no different than consuming any other oils, veggies, etc. Every plant we cultivate and harvest will naturally kill animals in the process, there is nothing we can do to avoid that...

erm...the destruction of some of the earth's largest forests will lead to the most catastrophic losses of life there have ever been - it will be the same as the depleted fish stocks we have now, and which will continue.

[Essy Strudel]

Wow! Thankyou so much everyone for this information. I had no idea about all that stuff. Now I will try and avoid it. If anyone knows of which products do and don't cantain it, please share.

Thanks Essy

[Gorilla]

i don't know about Australia, but it seems in the UK the majority of processed foods that contain oil are made with palm oil.

[Essy Strudel]

Well I don't eat much processed foods, so hopefully I'll avoid it, thank goodness.
And Thankyou!