Palm oil, the hidden ingredient

Thanks, craftyone

The biggest use of palm oil is in the biofuel industry.

www.climatechangenews.com/2019/02/04/eu-set-tighten-rules-palm-oil-biofuels/

Thanks craftyone - the white rabbit article is very helpful.

I posted this on the Stressed thread but a few more people may see it here.
I think that it's quite a task to see the wood from the trees. Literally!
What I can't understand is why manufacturers of palm oil free or those who use an accredited palm oil don't shout it from the rooftops.

Sparklefizz A very good point when so many are demonstrating about converting to emission free energy asap. Among the results of that could be a rapid increase in using biofuels for energy generation at the expense of the destruction of jungles and forests to grow it and the conversion of food producing land to biofuel crops like palm oil.

Environmental and conservation issues are not black and white. It was pointed out to me that immense damage has already been done re the destruction of rain forests for the purpose of producing palm oil. If palm oil is ethically sourced then international guidelines have to be stringent applied and enforced.
There is no turning the clock back.

sparklefizz, field after field of yellow oilseed rape here, heavily sprayed with fungicides and pesticides and then srayed again just before harvesting, with strong glyphosate, 4 days before harvest. Those good arable fields could be used for food production but that oil is used as biofuel. Its a topsy turvey money driven world

I am going to make a personal list from that white rabbit link, products I will never use again because if the company will not say if palm oil is in the ingredients, then we can assume that it is. Products that I will buy again like dr Bronner

Craftyone. Rapeseed oil is a food. I have a bottle of it in my kitchen and I’d rather have that than palm oil.
I take your point about the sprays but I can assure you that all the farmers I know will not spend a penny more than they have to to get a healthy and productive crop.

I disageee specs because much of this so called ‘ethically sourced’ is no such thing. There is such corruption that international guidelines are flouted and certification bought rather than earned. Best avoided.

pamela, yes I use rapeseed oil as food, ie organic cold pressed which I keep in a dark bottle in the fridge. I live in the middle of arable country and can see the chemical sprayers out on a regular basis. Most rapeseed oil is used as bio fuel. Many small farmers have been bought out by consortiums run by men in suits, it is all about max profit for minimum outlay

Palm-oil forests certified as sustainable are being destroyed faster than non-certified land, according to researchers from Purdue University, reports The Independent. Plantations with eco-friendly endorsements have lost 38 percent of their forest cover since 2007, while non-certified areas have lost 34 percent. The researchers drew their conclusions after 15 years of fact-finding missions, using data from these missions as well as from satellite, governmental, charities, and palm oil companies' own reports, analyzing 2,210 "concessions," or licensed palm-growing areas.

From 2001 to 2016, total tree loss in Indonesian palm oil concessions was equivalent to 34.2 percent of the area covered by the plantations, but the loss in certified sustainable plantations was higher – 38.3 percent. The study's lead author, Roberto Gatti, warned that if governments do not act immediately and end acceptance of certification schemes, the world will almost completely lose southeast Asian forests in a few decades.

an example of land use for maximum profit. Big field which was once a beautiful apple orchard with over 90 varieties of apples. The old man died, son grubbed up every single apple tree. Sold that big area to a consortium and now it grows a mass crop of eg corn. Then the combine comes in and all that corn is chopped and taken straight to the biodigestor. All harvested and income preserved in very few days. A few days later the ground is prepared for the next mass crop for the digestor. On top of that there is a massive state subsidy of many £k, free money to men from london. I see it all from my vantage view, right in the middle

Oh yes they are supposed to leave space between the crop and hedge, no they don`t they crop right up to the hedge but still get the environmental part of the subsidy. The whole system is rotten

palm oil is good it is the method of production that is bad. I have found a list of products free from palm oil but it is australian. It is a good read
www.travelfordifference.com/list-palm-oil-free-products/

Can anyone find a list of uk products free from palm oil?

I got that a bit wrong

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-reason-i-wont-boycott-palm-oil_uk_5bed8b99e4b07f6a97f8deef?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF5pJuqV9vw0dhx5weeWavP04iViySqd5IZojm1ko497XSC3ebiLc6-axM7caqQkELDQwezw6OcbAI6ijG186hniGt0t9Bc10TDZbYK92IT61TaO5OkcsJDj3OMnNHd3gQD7I62lrdtpGDl6JLAB7T6jrYKbXTRasKFqHGqyxhtx

I am not botcotting palm oil, I am going to be selective, which appears to be the best way

As you say craftyone, nothing wrong with palm oil at all.
When they’ve cut down all the trees there won’t be any left though. Let’s hope we can trust the sustainable farming to stop the damage.

www.greenpeace.org.uk/breakthrough-moment-end-deforestation-palm-oil/
We could join Greenpeace - even if we can't do anything ourselves physically, we will be supporting their efforts.