I'm just a gluten-free girl trying to survive in a world full of wheat.
Say Yes to Responsible and Sustainable Palm Oil
Erica Dermer,
**This blog post is sponsored by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.**
Do you know about palm oil? If you said no, perhaps you should. But don’t worry – read on and you’ll know way more than you started this blog post with! First, know that there is palm oil in almost 50% of the everyday products we buy in the supermarket. The basics are this – there difference between good and bad palm oil. And, like most choices that we have at the grocery store, you can choose good or bad. You have a choice as a consumer to choose products that use good palm oil – certified sustainable palm oil.
Take a look at this video and see designer Jessica Dance’s awesome knitted food too!
So what are the items that contain palm oil? Just pick up the last thing you ate and there’s a good chance there’s palm oil in it. There’s palm oil in dairy-free butter spread, packaged gluten-free cookies, and even household items like lipstick, shampoo and soap. Over 70% of the world’s cosmetics and household detergents contain raw materials derived from palm oil.
Thirteen million tons of palm oil is used globally, but just 21% of it is certified from sustainable sources. This is why I have partnered with RSPO – the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. They are a not-for-profit association, uniting stakeholders from the palm oil industry for global standards for sustainable palm oil.
Why does it even matter to you, the consumer, on what type of palm oil you support? The production of so called “bad” palm oil is rapidly destroying rainforests and ecosystems, attributing to air pollution, and putting species at risk of extinction. Good palm oil, however, can actually benefit local communities.
As a consumer, you can look out for the RSPO symbol on products, although it’s difficult to find these in the US. See examples of products with the RSPO symbol here: http://www.rspo.org/trademark/trademark-products-gallery. You can find brands that are a member of the RSPO in the US here. You’ll see familiar brands like Avon, Barney & Company, Boulder Brands, Dang Foods, Endangered Species Chocolate, General Mills, Hain Celestial, Justin’s, KIND, Nutiva, WhiteWave Foods, and even Starbucks. Support brands that use responsible practices for palm oil – sustainable palm oil.
You can learn more about the message about good palm oil on social media via their consumer website, full of these adorable knitted foods and a great take-home message.
