Photo Credit: Science
It is hard to go to the grocery store today and not purchase a product with Palm Oil in it. In fact, it is included in about half of the products on grocery store shelves today. Why is this? Well palm oil has become extremely popular and profitable over the years because it is a high-yielding and low-cost product. Additionally, it is cheaply produced across much of Southeast Asia making it a preferred product in many manufactured goods. So the question we are here to answer today is: Is Palm Oil Vegan?
Is Palm Oil Vegan?
Technically speaking, Palm Oil is a 100% plant-based product. Palm oil is extracted from the fruit of oil palms (primarily African oil palms). Palm Oil is produced in many African and Southeast Asian countries. These include: Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, and many more. Why is there vegan debate about palm oil if it is entirely plant-based? Well it has a variety of other issues…
Photo Credit: Wired
Is Palm Oil Bad For The Environment?
The cultivation of palm oil is extremely destructive to the natural environment. It has lead to widespread deforestation, loss of natural habitats, and released large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions every year. According to The Great Projects, an area of rain forest the size of 300 football fields is cleared for palm oil production every hour. At this rate, Indonesia and Malaysia could destroy all of their native rain forests in the coming years. As an added problem, oil palms are cut down every few years once they grow too high to reach their fruit. When they are cut down we lose both the greenhouse gas sequestering ability, but they are also burned which produces millions of tons of additional greenhouse gas emissions every year.
Photo Credit: The Great Projects
Palm Oil Harms Orangutans and Other Animals
As millions of acres of rain forest is cleared every year for palm oil production, thousands of animals are losing their natural resources and habitats. This is leading to mass endangerment of many species. According to a research paper in Current Biology, an estimated 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost between 1999 and 2015 due to palm oil cultivation. In addition to orangutans; tigers, rhinos, bears, elephants, leopards, and monkeys face extinction due to the overproduction of palm oil. Approximately only 15% of these animals can survive in oil palm plantations.
Photo Credit: National Geographic
Why Vegans Don't Eat Palm Oil?
Vegans often choose to avoid eating palm oil for the two reasons mentioned in this article: the environmental impact and the animal endangerment. These two reasons resonate with vegans as people usually follow a vegan diet and lifestyle to reduce their environmental impact, avoid harming animals, and increase their health and well being.
Luckily, not is all lost in the world of palm oil as there has been a push towards sustainable palm oil. While there is a still a lot to be done, groups such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and Green Palm are helping end users identify products with sustainable sourced palm oil.
Summary
So while palm oil is technically a vegan-friendly ingredient in many foods, some vegans choose to avoid it due to the environmental impact and harm to animals that is caused by its cultivation.
