Switching to a plant-based diet is an environmentally conscious choice. However, not all ingredients in plant-based foods are sustainable. On the contrary, palm oil can be found in countless products and is responsible for enormous CO² emissions and rapid deforestation.

Palm oil is currently under heavy fire. It is the most widely used vegetable oil, accounting for 38% of global consumption. Although the ingredient is far from sustainable, the plantations employ some 5 million people in Southeast Asia, of whom some 60% are small farms. Good for the local economy, you might think, but nothing could be further from the truth. Deforestation, land grabbing, exploitation: these are just some of the factors involved in the production of it. And since it is estimated that demand for the product will double by 2050, now is the time to act.

How is palm oil damaging our planet?

It is primarily extracted from the fruit of the oil palm. It is not a popular ingredient among food and cosmetics manufacturers because of its nutritional values (high percentage of saturated fats and antioxidants), but because of its price. Palm oil is extremely cheap, which explains the high demand for it. Good for producer and consumer, you might think. But behind the scenes, we pay a hefty price for it: every year, hectares of primeval forest disappear to create oil palm plantations. And that causes a terribly polluting chain reaction.

Because the number of oil palm plantations keeps increasing, rainforest disappears. This forces both the local population and endangered species such as the orang-utan to leave their territory. Large areas of forest are burnt down to make way for fallow land, but this in turn unintentionally sets larger areas of forest ablaze. Indonesia and Malaysia have to deal with continuous uncontrollable forest fires due to the production of palm oil.

And forest fires have dramatic consequences. They deteriorate air quality drastically, causing health problems for the local population. In addition, they emit a large quantity of CO² that accelerates global warming. And as if that were not enough, the plantations use a lot of pesticides that affect the soil health. The problem is not in the product itself, but in the production model.