Are your eco-friendly purchases actually harming the planet?

There is a monster lurking on supermarket shelves and a group of consumers plan to bring it out into the open. Calling itself simply, Palm Oil Consumers, the group, made up of concerned consumers from Canada and the US is campaigning to raise awareness about palm oil and the many environmental issues surrounding its cultivation.

While environmental groups in Asia and Europe have been protesting against the devastating effects of palm oil plantation, the loudest affirmation of its environmental footprint came in September 2009 when the World Bank, through its International Finance Corporation, suspended all lending to palm oil producers, citing its concern that the lending would cause social and environmental harm.

Palm oil is found in 45% of the daily products we use, from chocolate chip cookies and margarine to brand name cosmetics and household detergents.

Yet many consumers appear to be are unaware that the widespread use of palm oil is devastating South-east Asian rainforests and wildlife.

“It’s almost impossible to avoid palm oil,” said Colleen Perrin, Co-Founder of Palm Oil Consumers. “Canadian label requirements, unlike those of countries like Australia and the UK, do demand that specific oils are declared when used in products. Goods that are imported from those countries usually do not carry a special made-for-Canada label and therefore, often declare palm oil simply as “vegetable oil.”

Palm Oil Consumers (www.palmoilconsumers.com) has a mission to change that. The group is challenging imported food producers to declare their ingredients according to Canadian label requirements and is supporting its members in other countries to lobby for change in their labelling laws so that palm oil is declared when it is used in a product.

Palm oil saw a sudden surge in popularity in 2006 with new food labeling laws which had manufacturers scrambling to replace trans fats in their products with an alternative. The product of a high-yield, fast-growing crop, palm oil cultivated from large plantations became that cheap alternative. And yet, while trans fats-free, the oil is far from healthy and has been linked in some studies to heart disease.

The European Union’s (EU)  decision in 2004 to add agro-fuel to gasoline in order to reduce carbon emissions created another huge surge in the demand for this oil.

Malaysia and Indonesia, sources of most of the world’s palm oil, have both created new oil palm plantations at an alarming pace to feed global demand. Indonesia in particular has been criticized for its practice of burning down rainforests in order to create plantations quickly. In a report from the Dutch group Wetlands, Indonesia is ranked third in the world for carbon emissions after China and India.

Many species – including the orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, and the sun bear – have been placed at risk because of the loss of rich biodiversity in these two countries. These animal species are all unique to Sumatra, an island in western Indonesia.

The group Palm Oil Consumers hopes to examine the issues around palm oil in order to:

1. examine palm oil certification bodies
2. explore alternatives to palm oil in foods such as locally grown oil alternatives
3. inform consumers in North America about better choices
4. inspire manufacturers to get on board with either eliminating palm oil as an ingredient or moving to more sustainably produced palm oil.