Palm oil is under attack, and because I am devoted to knowing the truth behind things rather than just blindly supporting the anti-palm movement, I’ve been studying up on the topic. Here I present my reasons for coming to Palm’s defense.
Palm oil is used in soapmaking because it has a great ability to make hard bars of soap. One of the most common complaints of vegetable-oil based natural soap is that it tends to disappear quickly. The high glycerin content contributes to this, but so does the choice of oils a soapcrafter uses in their base formula. Other oils and fats can be used to create hardness, such as coconut oil, lard or tallow. Unfortunately, coconut oil, used in higher amounts, can be harsh and stripping, leaving skin dry and rough. Lard and tallow, being animals products, are contrary to many of my vegan soap buyers’ ethics, and are suspected of clogging pores. hile I have made palm-free soaps, I generally prefer the formulas with palm.
When I first began hearing about the controversy concerning palm oil, I was a bit alarmed. I certainly didn’t want to lose business because of an ingredient I was using. I didn’t want to offend my customers by making bad decisions about the oils I had chosen. But, rather than eliminating palm from my soaps, I chose instead to research the issue, and make an educated decision based on my findings.
What I have learned is very interesting. Palm oil accounts for over 47 million tons of the world’s 144 million ton vegetable oil production. It is grown in 17 countries, and for 20% of its growers, it is their only source of income. The palm-oil tree itself, is actually a very environmentally-friendly plant. Growing to incredible heights, the fruit of the palm tree can be used to create everything from biofuel to cosmetics to food. Palm oil plantations require far less use of pesticides and fertilizers than soy plantations do. And, palm plants produce more edible oil per acre than any other vegetable oil source. This is good news for a growing global population. Palm also allows many countries that grow it to become players in the global economy. Small tribal villages rely on palm oil to sustain their families and provide financial resources that contribute to the building of schools, and creation of clean drinking water.
Unfortunately, the global demand for palm oil is huge, and growing. This has led many countries to destroy rainforests to make room for more palm plantations. This in turn, destroys the biologically-diverse rainforest, and the species that depend on it, including orangutans. When rainforests are cleared to make way for plantations, carbon from the rich peat bogs on the rainforest floor is released into the atmosphere. For these reasons, many people are choosing to boycott palm oil, and any products containing it.
But this is not an answer to the problem. Because of palm’s prevalence in so many products, and because the global demand is so high, little effect will be made by boycotting. The boycott would have to be tremendously large in scale to make a difference. Further, any reduction in palm oil use, would simply shift demand to another oil, and because of palm’s incredible versatility and economy, there really is not a better alternative.
Therefore, the solution lies in responsibly growing and using palm. Many of us in the soapmaking arena have signed petitions to use “Sustainable Palm.” By obtaining our palm from suppliers who can provide us with documentation that their palm is grown and produced in an environmentally responsible, sustainable way, we are doing our part to ensure that the palm we use is not contributing to rainforest destruction, orangutan obliteration and unnecessary carbon emissions.
I applaud and support the efforts of both GreenPalm.org and The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm (RSPO.org). I will continue to seek out sustainable palm oil, and use it to make my soaps. In doing so, I know that I am providing you with incredible handcrafted soap, and also helping to support people and communities that depend on palm production for their livelihoods.
*Thank you to GreenPalm.org for the palm oil statistics quoted in my article.
