Palm Oil and Sustainability

Why Sustainable Palm Oil Might Be Better Than An Overall Boycott

May 6, 2024

After a lot of back and forth, and a little digging, I decided to keep my original recipe the same. I love the bar for my family, even if I thought that I didn't love that it contained Palm Oil - something I had been boycotting for years. I am still proud to offer our palm-free line, but after reading about the issue, I am tentatively supporting the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil movement (RSPO.) When the alternative results in the rainforest continuing to be razed, only to make way for crops with a greater negative impact on the world, there is need for concern. I support all endeavors mitigating destruction and appreciate Roundtable’s efforts. 

From the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's website:

"In some regions palm oil has been produced irresponsibly. Forests have been cleared or damaged to grow palm oil, which has impacted both wildlife and local communities. And the workers and farmers producing palm oil in some places have suffered poor working conditions and low pay.

There have been calls to boycott palm oil because of these negative impacts. Yet switching from alternative vegetable oils to palm oil wouldn’t reduce these impacts. Sunflower, rapeseed, and soy have much lower yields per hectare than oil palm, so, in fact, more land would be needed to produce an equivalent amount of oil. What’s more, millions of farmers and their families work on oil palm plantations and smallholdings. This provides them with the income for basic essentials such as food, clean water, and housing. Plus, it allows many workers to send their children to school."

https://rspo.org/why-sustainable-palm-oil/