In this *highly requested* video, I delve into whether 🌴Palm Oil🌴is vegan. Learn about the impact of palm oil upon humans, the environments, and non-human animal alike. ✨Please share it around to help inform! ✨ Just a note, I'll be traveling to Toronto later today for the slaughterhouse vigil and while there will not have cell service and limited internet, but will do my best to check in and respond to comments!
+iam5ko Coconut oil is vegan, and very healthy. I use it for cooking often and I find it to be the best oil to use. I have a relative who will always comment when I buy takeaway chips because of the oil used.
Yikes. I just researched it because it sounded rather ridiculous (I mean really, monkeys picking coconuts) and I still can't believe it. I suppose that makes coconut oil a no then, though I do believe there are a few corporations who do not use monkeys. Thanks so much for informing me - I never would have thought about it otherwise!
+Gama Twilit You're welcome. I'm sorry that I ruined coconut oil for you. If you find out about corporations that use human workers please let me know.
+Tianny Banany I consider palm oil to be vegan. For the definition of vegan to mean anything. Otherwise we would get into a slippery slope situation and we could only eat the type of food with the lowest environmental and animal bykill impact, because doing otherwise would mean causing unecessary death and environmental destruction. That said. Given the condition in how it is curretently produced it is damaging to the environment and biodiversity. As solutions I propose: - A reduction in our consumption of it (I don't consider a total abolition to be a must in our ethical obligations) - Consumer driven demand for products with the sustainable label - Political preassure for labeling and planting palm oil elsewhere where it does not cause the destruction of the few rainforest we have left. - This may not seem related but it is: Don't procreate. There are too many humans in this planet and living unsustainably. With less people there is more land for other species.
+Lorenzo di Napoli EXACTLY It;s a plant but ethically it is NOT vegan . Vegan is founded on ethics so the process of palm oil (burning animals alive) is not vegan but it may be "vegan" as it is just a plant. But to exploit and murder animal = unvegan as it gets =p
Lorenzo di Napoli Yeah there are issues to all foods =( , unless you grow them yourself xD but isn't palm oil the worst of the worst? I can't understand though about the marketing of sustainable palm oil being bad , would that make fairtrade bad too? I mean isn't coconut oil so much better than palm oil. I knew somebody who rescued the monkeys who had their mothers killed, but some animals are sent to zoo's with unimaginable standards. www.change.org/p/president-joko-widodo-close-surabaya-zoo Wouldn't you agree, the appalling abuse to animals and the environment is something vegans should consider unvegan? ,it is exploitation and slaughter of animals even if it is for an oil and not their flesh Just because it's not a piece of animal or out of an animal doesn't excuse burning animals alive, hacking them apart and sending them to bad zoo's so we can steal their homes to collect an oil, growing plants sounds far more innocent than taking from the rainforest with great, abusive force. There are human rights issues I here with bananas too and im sure spuds farmers are killing bugs and mammals, but palm oil is really over the line and it's not necessary, how is it alright to support a product that burns alive, hacks up and sends animals to crappy zoo's, aren't vegans against exploiting animals for food? I hope your not mad at me , love the piggy
its a shame that people like freelee are bigger in the vegan side of youtube instead of people like you who provide so much important information instead of bashing everyone who is non vegan. Your chancel probably turned more people vegan than freelee, the vegan couple or sorsha ever will
Thank you so much for making this video Emily! I've been vegan for a while but to be honest I had never looked into palm oil, I checked your blog post to find the list of all secret palm oil names and because I do not have the patience to learn them by heart I'll just aim for a whole food diet and stick to not eating anything with ingredients I can't pronounce ;)
Your work is so crucial to the vegan movement. Whenever I watch your videos I feel so proud and grateful that you use your voice so beautifully. Thank you.
I'm so glad there's someone out there bringing these issues to light. This is why I love your channel and will continue to support it. Keep it up, Emily! You're doing a huge service to the vegan movement :)
wow! this is very timely. indonesia is currently burning their forests and the air is just terrible in singapore, which is where i am living. it was also pretty bad 2 years ago, but it seems worse now. the photo of the orangutan that was burned in a fire made me start reducing the amount of palm oil in my diet. sustainable palm oil is possible, but i doubt the big companies that are profiting from current production methods care enough to seek out sustainable methods of palm oil production.
OMG THANK YOU!!!! Thank you for telling new vegans that they don't have to be perfect and drop the palm oil products while they just starting! When I just started to become vegan I shared in a vegan group a vegan cake... with Oreos. The discussions and horror in the comments will I remember till this day :( This isn't the way our group should talk to other (new) vegans! We should be loving and understanding to each other. Now i'm still eating palm oil. But when I can choose between two products that are vegan, being one without palm oil, i'll choose the last one. But if I can't eat palm oil at all, veganism is to hard for me (being the only vegan in my household and only vegan that I know of). I also want to be an example to other people, showing that as a vegan you can still eat Oreo's and other (junk) food, so they can see that being vegan isn't hard. That's how I want to be an example :) And it works! If I cut palm oil out, they will see me struggle and think that being vegan is to hard.. But a lot of other vegans made me feel like shit for being a "palm oil eating vegan" :P, and I indeed wanted to quit being vegan in the beginning (after the Oreos cake fiasco) . I'm glad I'm still vegan
+Kwak I'm so very glad that this was helpful for you and that it resonated with your journey. It's great to hear that you'll work towards cutting out more, but yes--be proud of yourself for the changes you HAVE made and the growth you're striving for. Much love.
This reply makes me feel so good, and less alone. I live in Borneo, Malaysia. BIG producer of palm oil and it is so widely used here, feels like it is nearly impossible to not eat it when eating out and when buying plant-based local products :(. I am not able to afford a lot of imported vegan products so I try to make do with what I can here. I definitely do not use palm oil at home. I will choose any other option if I could, but I still eat it outside when i don't have much of a choice. I am new to eating wholly plantbased and learning more about veganism, and many times I have felt like such a bad person when reading other vegans' harsh comments on palm oil, so thank you for changing that! And thank you Bite Size Vegan for all that you do!
There is a facebook group in Holland for vegans. For some strange reason I am not allowed to bring up the topic of palm oil not being vegan. That boggles my mind. Being vegan should def be trying to avoid causing harm to anyone. I don't wanna buy anything of which I know causes harm to animals. So in my book palm oil is def not vegan.
people dont like to hear bad news about their bad habits, that includes vegans... but, there is an argument to be made that if you become too much of an 'extremist' it can have a worse effect since it could turn people off veganism, ultimately being less efficient in reducing animal suffering etc I guess an option is to not buy it but not refuse it when people offer you oreos for example
Thank you Emily for making such well worded, well thought out videos. The amount of hard work and effort you put in is so visible and I want to thank you for explaining topics so clearly and in depth. Whenever someone asks me a question like, 'what's wrong with eggs?' and ' Horses like being ridden though?' I post them your videos. You are utterly awesome and I look forward to every video you make. On behalf of all the animals, thank you so much.
I had no idea that Palm Oil is so destructive... I thought it was just an oil, like olive oil. Thank you Emily for always teaching me new things. The world is a better place with you here!
Palm oil is potentially the most sustainable form of plant-derived oils as it requires less land and has a much higher yield compared to many other plant derived oils. The best option is to support certified sustainable producers of palm oil rather then boycott it completely as that could lead to companies adopting the use of even more environmentally destructive oils.
I ditched all products containing Palm Oil over 2 years ago even brands that claim to use from sustainable sources . I make my own vegan mayo and butter and I stick to whole foods. Once you're determined to making changes is easy. Thank you Emily for addressing this issue.
I actually became vegan months after decided to drop palm oil. I do not consider it vegan, but, of course, I can't say that I'm 100% vegan. It's on each one of us to think about what we're gonna consider or not and choose the best we can.
I knew about the deforestation and how that was impacting animal populations but I did not know about the agrochemicals used. Yet another reason to avoid these products since using something that had those chemicals applied cannot be good for our health. Also, I had not considered that it could be better to urge companies to use truly sustainable palm oil. Thank you for another great video!
Hi Emily , we shouldn't even use oil due to the endothelial dis function it causes, but you would already know that because you have an amazing understanding of lots of subjects
Hey Emily, I love your videos! I've been vegan foe a month now( huzzah), thanks to you, books, a whole lot of tears, and documentaries. I just recently watch a documentary called " The true cost", it's all about the fast fashion industry and the effect that is has on our environment. Well at one point in the movie he said "the fashion industry holds second place to the most polluting thing on the planet. The first being oil...now I don't know much on the subject but I would've thought that he would have mention animal agricultural to. Is this true? Please help me understand
It's haze season in Singapore right now, from the fires in Sumatra, and schools even disallow outdoor lessons or sport classes when the psi is too high :(( When you look out the window, you can't see very far because of the haze.
I'm vegan and for the last month or so I've tried to actively avoid foods with palm oil. I don't eat tons of processed snacks or candy anymore (since many aren't vegan due to other ingredients and I've learned to enjoy healthier snacks) so that really helps.
GREAT content... will share to fb / twitter and add to my yt favorites! ~ This is exactly why we refrain from palm oil in the products we make. Many, even in my industry, do not know these facts. It has always been difficult to track "sustainable palm" and therefore we, from the beginning chose other plant based oils, albeit more costly. Therein lies the deforestation issue. ~ If you follow the $$$$$ it will tell all.
Thank you so much. I knew it was 'better to not buy palm oil' but I had no idea how bad it really is. I won't buy it again! Luckily the only product I (sometimes) buy that contains palm oil is peanut butter so I will try to find a brand without palm oil or I will make my own!
Thanks for the video, Emily! I had only recently heard that there were concerns with palm oil, but never knew what it was exactly, and just never got around to the research.
For the Germans here, if you want to get vegan butter/Magarine then you can buy Sojola or Goldina Reine Rapsmagarine. Luckily we have some alternatives now. (They are available even in most normal supermarkets). Not sure if those brands are available in other countries. I hope so.
thank you so much for making this video! i've been vegan for over a year and always been a bit unsure about buying and eating products including palm oil, but your video helped me make up my mind :)
Revisiting this valuable video seven years later and I'm still glad I've actively avoided Palm oil over the years. Even refusing to purchase vegan certified items simply because they contained the oil. But I can live without certain plant butters or cookies as they're not necessary because they're not oxygen. The hope on the horizon is now lab grown palm oil is in the process of being a reality and that I can get behind!
i bought some extra virgin red palm oil a while back because it said it was only sourced from its private farm, and had a little write up about sustainability and not harming the environment. i forget the brand, but it was tasty, and had a ridiculous amount of beta carotene.
Perhaps it says its sustainable, but many companies have used it simply as a 'label', and if you think about it how do you know where the oil is truly from? Although some companies respect rules of RSPO, why use palm oil in the first place? So in reality its best to try to avoid it as much as possible, even if the company says 'private farm', what does that truly mean? It could just mean they own a farm on land where there 'used' to be forest.
Palm oil production sustainability, as for any other plant, is not a question of veganism, but the one of environmentalism. Focusing on production process would require vegans to know the source of each product and reject even those made using animal manure. It means there is no point of adding yet another product in the "not vegan" list, because setting such a high standard would make veganism impossible. It is not really clear why palm oil has been chosen for criticism. It is very unlikely other agricultural products in third-world countries are handled any differently and make any less negative impact.
I absolutely love your videos. Just wondering about how you manage to meet living expenses if you spend so many hours making great videos. Is making videos alone enough to support living expenses? It's a question that comes up when I see the number of hours it takes for you to create each segment.
Looking at the actual definition of veganism which means "not consuming any animal products" technically palm oil WOULD be vegan, but that does not make it an ethical product to be supporting. We need to truly look at everything we are doing and making behavioral changes based on what we have learned. Since palm oil is so destructive, I think everyone should be avoiding palm oil completely. Thank you for this video, Emily! I have heard bad things about palm oil in the past and have tried my best to avoid it, but from now on I will DEFINETELY never be buying palm oil again!
I've personally seen the contrast of palm plantations and the biodiversity of living in harmony with the jungle. Other than the palm there's no life in the plantations, and they offer little benefit to the locals.
Well, as a vegan, palm oil is most def vegan. To me. And in my area. I get my palm oil from my own grove of trees here in Nigeria. It harms no one, the tree isn't even harmed. I use palm oils for my Nigerian dishes (that are extremely easy to veganize; just don't add meat/fish). Thank you for your videos. It's really hard but we have to keep going and fight for the entire earth that hurts because of our greed.
Somebody give this lady a Pulitzer Prize for research journalism please! Thank you Emily. Just yesterday got on to my spouse about the palm oil in his raw almond butter product.
I'm a newbie vegan, and I can say that cutting out palm oil would make less stuff available. but at the same time I had already been thinking about getting rid of it. I think ethically sourced palm oil would be vegan.
I have been trying to go palm oil free . It seems like its in so many things !! I am using the app scanner but there is so many products not yet on the app : /
This just further confirms that I should just go fully raw.. I don't have to worry about anyone suffering for anything that I purchase.. to my knowledge.
I agree with you I personally don’t eat palm oil and have never had palm oil in my time going vegan but it can be tricky and I understand why it is a good idea to slowly cut it our
Emily do you know if there are funds that we can pay into to encourage the land owners to maintain the land without farming them? It seems very unfair for us to all say they shouldn't farm their land and better their situations. But if it was more profitable to keep it as forests etc. (i.e. they get more from donations) then that seems like a kind, voluntary solution. Rather than starving the people by not supporting the goods they produce I would rather donate to encourage them to keep the land as forests etc. We would pay towards that. And we would support the palm oil farms that practice sustainable farming on land that doesn't require mass destuction, (But labeling here would be very important as you mentioned). I would rather we simply supported the farms that do things correctly, in palm oil, seaweed and all plant foods. This requires labeling. But when it comes to protecting forests etc. I do think we should be donating to ask the land owners to maintain them, as we are asking them to give up their income otherwise which is not fair. If it matters to us, we should contribute to keep it.
+Khalid Emadi I don't know about vegan butters, but when I first became vegan and was buying microwave popcorn without butter, it seemed like there was palm oil in most.
i'm a vegan and for now on i'll stop buying and eating things with palm oil in it. i didn't know it was bad for the environment! :( but now i do, thank u!
Excellent video. I never knew how destructive palm oil production was. We need more local food forests, not mono culture. See John's food forest videos at GrowingYourGreens.
Thanks for this one! Could you also make a video with your thoughts on coconut butter or any coconut products, cacao , or any other exotic vegan foods. What are the concerns we should be aware of? I have recently discovered raw coconut butter for making treats and it has saved me from giving into conventional non vegan candy cravings. And seems to be a helpful source of fat which i crave.
because I am lazy and haven't fully studied this topic..I agree we should avoid and not use palm oil, but what is the alternative to use in it's place? Is their an equally viable option that is vegan?
I avoid palm oil and did for many years as an Omni also. I truly don't think it fits the original definition of veganism which cites exploitation and suffering in addition to dietary constraints. It isn't easy though, with all the names it can be called and I've honestly found the available apps to be really clunky and unreliable. I just do my best. Love your work Emily...keep on chugging.
simple answer is no, its not. but like you said, even with giving up all other animal products is a huge difference. I have *THE* hardest time saying no to mango sticky rice after a nice veggie thia meal, but don't fuss over oreos.
it is vegan imo, yes it harms animals but so do Banana plantations and most of the other oil alternatives.
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please can you offer me something what to feed my pet with, since procecced pet food is junk and so is meat that i could buy in the hypermarkets? cats are carnivors but i dont want to feed my kitty with something that was tortured before
I went vegan 6 days ago and had granola with palm oil. But I thought to myself I should probably avoid it. Thanks. :) Ill keep a look out. (Ive been vegan before so not eating meat, dairy, etc is easy enough)
So I'm wondering why don't the companies just get their palm oil from West Africa and make a deal with the Asian Governments to use facilities already in existence as long as they don't create more?
I consume red palm oil that is produce in West African. Palm oil fruit tree is indigenous to West and Central African. My West African ancestors consumed this oil in their daily diet. Please, in the future when you make these discussions, please have the whole facts. You are giving Palm Oil a bad name, the oil of my ancestors, my West African ancestors consumed this oil for thousands of years. Palm oil is from a plant, its a very healthy oil. The Palm fruit oil trees that are in Africa have been there for hundreds of years. Please make a clear distinction between Asia produced Palm Oil and West African produced Palm oil in your videos next time.
Thank the universe, the sumatran orangutans pop of 14k now!! And there's now an estimated 400 to 600 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. 🧡 My husband and I don't eat palm oil. one Thankskilling we bought a food kit to celebrate indigenous peoples day and the soup had palm oil so we threw it out. Even though cspo palm oil is more sustainable, I'll stay away.
it's vegan, so i consume it on occasion when it's in vegan products... it's in vegan products, i'm pretty sure it's vegan..... if not i'm getting ready to sue all the times i ate "non vegan" products that claimed to be CERTIFIED VEGAN
+Johanan Micaiah They don't ethically source their palm oil unfortunately. There is ethically sourced palm, and you can check on the package. Usually people are really happy about that and will list it right on the front. :)
I love these kind of informational videos... 😊I'd suggest you to make a video for vegan products.👗👠💅🍴 You can separate them into categories and make a different video for each one.🎥 E.x. beauty, food, clothes, shoes, cleaning products. These may help the average consumer make more responsible purchases. You can as well include some "wrong" products that are popular or though to be vegan...
Most vegans would recommend against using oil for health reasons, but from an ethical standpoint it would probably be best to try and find an oil that is made from locally sourced ingredients (although this can be hard) and organic (not so hard)
+Randiir According to Dr Greger, no oil is healthy; being a refined fat it raises cholesterol, increasing your risk of heart disease, on top of other negative health effects.
I consider palm oil to be vegan. For the definition of vegan to mean anything. Otherwise we would get into a slippery slope situation and we could only eat the type of food with the lowest environmental and animal bykill impact, because doing otherwise would mean causing unecessary death and environmental destruction. That said. Given the condition in how it is curretently produced it is damaging to the environment and biodiversity. As solutions I propose: - A reduction in our consumption of it (I don't consider a total abolition to be a must in our ethical obligations) - Consumer driven demand for products with the sustainable label - Political preassure for labeling and planting palm oil elsewhere where it does not cause the destruction of the few rainforest we have left. - This may not seem related but it is: Don't procreate. There are too many humans in this planet and living unsustainably. With less people there is more land for other species.
Great video, the most i already know, But the amount of greenhouse gas wow that's a lot,,,,,,,,,😨 I actually don't eat Palm oil I eat low-fat hi carb, actually extremely low fat The most I eat is fruit 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍏🍏🍊🍊🌽🍠🍠🍅🍅
In this *highly requested* video, I delve into whether 🌴Palm Oil🌴is vegan. Learn about the impact of palm oil upon humans, the environments, and non-human animal alike. ✨Please share it around to help inform! ✨ Just a note, I'll be traveling to Toronto later today for the slaughterhouse vigil and while there will not have cell service and limited internet, but will do my best to check in and respond to comments!
+iam5ko Coconut oil is vegan, and very healthy. I use it for cooking often and I find it to be the best oil to use. I have a relative who will always comment when I buy takeaway chips because of the oil used.
Well, damn. I guess I need to research more before I comment.
+Gama Twilit Yeah it sucks. I was a coconut fan too.
Yikes. I just researched it because it sounded rather ridiculous (I mean really, monkeys picking coconuts) and I still can't believe it. I suppose that makes coconut oil a no then, though I do believe there are a few corporations who do not use monkeys. Thanks so much for informing me - I never would have thought about it otherwise!
+Gama Twilit You're welcome. I'm sorry that I ruined coconut oil for you. If you find out about corporations that use human workers please let me know.
Short version: Palm oil is vegan, but its bad anyways. Try to avoid it.
*****
I am an ethical vegan :)
Doesn't mean i ignore health, tho.
+Tianny Banany I consider palm oil to be vegan. For the definition of vegan to mean anything. Otherwise we would get into a slippery slope situation and we could only eat the type of food with the lowest environmental and animal bykill impact, because doing otherwise would mean causing unecessary death and environmental destruction.
That said. Given the condition in how it is curretently produced it is damaging to the environment and biodiversity.
As solutions I propose:
- A reduction in our consumption of it (I don't consider a total abolition to be a must in our ethical obligations)
- Consumer driven demand for products with the sustainable label
- Political preassure for labeling and planting palm oil elsewhere where it does not cause the destruction of the few rainforest we have left.
- This may not seem related but it is: Don't procreate. There are too many humans in this planet and living unsustainably. With less people there is more land for other species.
+Lorenzo di Napoli EXACTLY It;s a plant but ethically it is NOT vegan . Vegan is founded on ethics so the process of palm oil (burning animals alive) is not vegan but it may be "vegan" as it is just a plant. But to exploit and murder animal = unvegan as it gets =p
MEH NAME I have bad news for you... all food and almost all products you can buy are not vegan.
Lorenzo di Napoli Yeah there are issues to all foods =( , unless you grow them yourself xD but isn't palm oil the worst of the worst? I can't understand though about the marketing of sustainable palm oil being bad , would that make fairtrade bad too?
I mean isn't coconut oil so much better than palm oil. I knew somebody who rescued the monkeys who had their mothers killed, but some animals are sent to zoo's with unimaginable standards.
www.change.org/p/president-joko-widodo-close-surabaya-zoo
Wouldn't you agree, the appalling abuse to animals and the environment is something vegans should consider unvegan? ,it is exploitation and slaughter of animals even if it is for an oil and not their flesh Just because it's not a piece of animal or out of an animal doesn't excuse burning animals alive, hacking them apart and sending them to bad zoo's so we can steal their homes to collect an oil, growing plants sounds far more innocent than taking from the rainforest with great, abusive force.
There are human rights issues I here with bananas too and im sure spuds farmers are killing bugs and mammals, but palm oil is really over the line and it's not necessary, how is it alright to support a product that burns alive, hacks up and sends animals to crappy zoo's, aren't vegans against exploiting animals for food?
I hope your not mad at me , love the piggy
its a shame that people like freelee are bigger in the vegan side of youtube instead of people like you who provide so much important information instead of bashing everyone who is non vegan. Your chancel probably turned more people vegan than freelee, the vegan couple or sorsha ever will
Thank you so much for making this video Emily! I've been vegan for a while but to be honest I had never looked into palm oil, I checked your blog post to find the list of all secret palm oil names and because I do not have the patience to learn them by heart I'll just aim for a whole food diet and stick to not eating anything with ingredients I can't pronounce ;)
Your work is so crucial to the vegan movement. Whenever I watch your videos I feel so proud and grateful that you use your voice so beautifully. Thank you.
+Michael Harren wow thank you SO much. This really made my day (or more). I so appreciate it
I'm so glad there's someone out there bringing these issues to light. This is why I love your channel and will continue to support it. Keep it up, Emily! You're doing a huge service to the vegan movement :)
+Cristina Basile thank you so very much Cristina! I really appreciate it!
wow! this is very timely. indonesia is currently burning their forests and the air is just terrible in singapore, which is where i am living. it was also pretty bad 2 years ago, but it seems worse now. the photo of the orangutan that was burned in a fire made me start reducing the amount of palm oil in my diet. sustainable palm oil is possible, but i doubt the big companies that are profiting from current production methods care enough to seek out sustainable methods of palm oil production.
OMG THANK YOU!!!! Thank you for telling new vegans that they don't have to be perfect and drop the palm oil products while they just starting! When I just started to become vegan I shared in a vegan group a vegan cake... with Oreos. The discussions and horror in the comments will I remember till this day :( This isn't the way our group should talk to other (new) vegans! We should be loving and understanding to each other.
Now i'm still eating palm oil. But when I can choose between two products that are vegan, being one without palm oil, i'll choose the last one. But if I can't eat palm oil at all, veganism is to hard for me (being the only vegan in my household and only vegan that I know of). I also want to be an example to other people, showing that as a vegan you can still eat Oreo's and other (junk) food, so they can see that being vegan isn't hard. That's how I want to be an example :) And it works! If I cut palm oil out, they will see me struggle and think that being vegan is to hard.. But a lot of other vegans made me feel like shit for being a "palm oil eating vegan" :P, and I indeed wanted to quit being vegan in the beginning (after the Oreos cake fiasco) . I'm glad I'm still vegan
+Kwak I'm so very glad that this was helpful for you and that it resonated with your journey. It's great to hear that you'll work towards cutting out more, but yes--be proud of yourself for the changes you HAVE made and the growth you're striving for. Much love.
This reply makes me feel so good, and less alone. I live in Borneo, Malaysia. BIG producer of palm oil and it is so widely used here, feels like it is nearly impossible to not eat it when eating out and when buying plant-based local products :(. I am not able to afford a lot of imported vegan products so I try to make do with what I can here. I definitely do not use palm oil at home. I will choose any other option if I could, but I still eat it outside when i don't have much of a choice. I am new to eating wholly plantbased and learning more about veganism, and many times I have felt like such a bad person when reading other vegans' harsh comments on palm oil, so thank you for changing that! And thank you Bite Size Vegan for all that you do!
Kwak ski
There is a facebook group in Holland for vegans. For some strange reason I am not allowed to bring up the topic of palm oil not being vegan. That boggles my mind. Being vegan should def be trying to avoid causing harm to anyone. I don't wanna buy anything of which I know causes harm to animals. So in my book palm oil is def not vegan.
people dont like to hear bad news about their bad habits, that includes vegans... but, there is an argument to be made that if you become too much of an 'extremist' it can have a worse effect since it could turn people off veganism, ultimately being less efficient in reducing animal suffering etc
I guess an option is to not buy it but not refuse it when people offer you oreos for example
I avoided it because I knew about the destruction and i eat a high raw whole foods diet💜
Thank you Emily for making such well worded, well thought out videos. The amount of hard work and effort you put in is so visible and I want to thank you for explaining topics so clearly and in depth. Whenever someone asks me a question like, 'what's wrong with eggs?' and ' Horses like being ridden though?' I post them your videos. You are utterly awesome and I look forward to every video you make. On behalf of all the animals, thank you so much.
I had no idea that Palm Oil is so destructive... I thought it was just an oil, like olive oil. Thank you Emily for always teaching me new things. The world is a better place with you here!
Hi Emily,
I saw you at the Toronto Chicken Save vigil! Your channel is amazing, thanks for all your energy. Hope to see you again.
Love this, going to share this with all my soapmaking friends. Some of the stuff I never knew about. Thank you!
+fluffysuds you're so welcome!
Palm oil is potentially the most sustainable form of plant-derived oils as it requires less land and has a much higher yield compared to many other plant derived oils. The best option is to support certified sustainable producers of palm oil rather then boycott it completely as that could lead to companies adopting the use of even more environmentally destructive oils.
I ditched all products containing Palm Oil over 2 years ago even brands that claim to use from sustainable sources . I make my own vegan mayo and butter and I stick to whole foods. Once you're determined to making changes is easy. Thank you Emily for addressing this issue.
I actually became vegan months after decided to drop palm oil. I do not consider it vegan, but, of course, I can't say that I'm 100% vegan. It's on each one of us to think about what we're gonna consider or not and choose the best we can.
I knew about the deforestation and how that was impacting animal populations but I did not know about the agrochemicals used. Yet another reason to avoid these products since using something that had those chemicals applied cannot be good for our health. Also, I had not considered that it could be better to urge companies to use truly sustainable palm oil. Thank you for another great video!
+Victoria Smith you're so welcome. Happy to bring greater depth to the subject as much as I'm able.
Hi Emily , we shouldn't even use oil due to the endothelial dis function it causes, but you would already know that because you have an amazing understanding of lots of subjects
Hey Emily, I love your videos! I've been vegan foe a month now( huzzah), thanks to you, books, a whole lot of tears, and documentaries. I just recently watch a documentary called " The true cost", it's all about the fast fashion industry and the effect that is has on our environment. Well at one point in the movie he said "the fashion industry holds second place to the most polluting thing on the planet. The first being oil...now I don't know much on the subject but I would've thought that he would have mention animal agricultural to. Is this true? Please help me understand
I suggest watching Cowspiracy as well! The whole documentary is on this exact topic!
Thank you for being cool enough to be patient with those of us learning and validating our efforts. It's encouraging.
It's haze season in Singapore right now, from the fires in Sumatra, and schools even disallow outdoor lessons or sport classes when the psi is too high :(( When you look out the window, you can't see very far because of the haze.
Nutiva grows their palm trees in small organic farms here! It doesn't damage the environment at all and it makes a good substitute for butter
This is an amazing video. Thanks for putting in so many hours. I'm in shock. I knew it was bad but I had no idea how bad. Thanks for opening my eyes.
I'm vegan and for the last month or so I've tried to actively avoid foods with palm oil. I don't eat tons of processed snacks or candy anymore (since many aren't vegan due to other ingredients and I've learned to enjoy healthier snacks) so that really helps.
GREAT content... will share to fb / twitter and add to my yt favorites! ~ This is exactly why we refrain from palm oil in the products we make. Many, even in my industry, do not know these facts. It has always been difficult to track "sustainable palm" and therefore we, from the beginning chose other plant based oils, albeit more costly. Therein lies the deforestation issue. ~ If you follow the $$$$$ it will tell all.
+AnoushBotanical thanks for sharing! and great to hear you're conscientious of the issue.
Thank you so much. I knew it was 'better to not buy palm oil' but I had no idea how bad it really is. I won't buy it again!
Luckily the only product I (sometimes) buy that contains palm oil is peanut butter so I will try to find a brand without palm oil or I will make my own!
This is so striking.One of the best videos you've made if you ask me.Thank you!
Thanks for the video, Emily! I had only recently heard that there were concerns with palm oil, but never knew what it was exactly, and just never got around to the research.
For the Germans here, if you want to get vegan butter/Magarine then you can buy Sojola or Goldina Reine Rapsmagarine. Luckily we have some alternatives now. (They are available even in most normal supermarkets).
Not sure if those brands are available in other countries. I hope so.
Those brands don't contain palm oil I mean.
Also the organic version of Alsan.
Where is the app to install for sustainable palm oil and it's derivatives?
Mam love from 🇮🇳 India u r doing great job keep it up
thank you so much for making this video! i've been vegan for over a year and always been a bit unsure about buying and eating products including palm oil, but your video helped me make up my mind :)
+tay reefman that's so great to hear! thank you so much for sharing this with me :)
Revisiting this valuable video seven years later and I'm still glad I've actively avoided Palm oil over the years. Even refusing to purchase vegan certified items simply because they contained the oil. But I can live without certain plant butters or cookies as they're not necessary because they're not oxygen. The hope on the horizon is now lab grown palm oil is in the process of being a reality and that I can get behind!
i bought some extra virgin red palm oil a while back because it said it was only sourced from its private farm, and had a little write up about sustainability and not harming the environment. i forget the brand, but it was tasty, and had a ridiculous amount of beta carotene.
Perhaps it says its sustainable, but many companies have used it simply as a 'label', and if you think about it how do you know where the oil is truly from? Although some companies respect rules of RSPO, why use palm oil in the first place? So in reality its best to try to avoid it as much as possible, even if the company says 'private farm', what does that truly mean? It could just mean they own a farm on land where there 'used' to be forest.
Thank you so much, incredibly well done video!!
Palm oil production sustainability, as for any other plant, is not a question of veganism, but the one of environmentalism. Focusing on production process would require vegans to know the source of each product and reject even those made using animal manure. It means there is no point of adding yet another product in the "not vegan" list, because setting such a high standard would make veganism impossible.
It is not really clear why palm oil has been chosen for criticism. It is very unlikely other agricultural products in third-world countries are handled any differently and make any less negative impact.
I absolutely love your videos. Just wondering about how you manage to meet living expenses if you spend so many hours making great videos. Is making videos alone enough to support living expenses? It's a question that comes up when I see the number of hours it takes for you to create each segment.
Such great information. Thank you so much for taking your time to inform. Stay well :)
Looking at the actual definition of veganism which means "not consuming any animal products" technically palm oil WOULD be vegan, but that does not make it an ethical product to be supporting. We need to truly look at everything we are doing and making behavioral changes based on what we have learned. Since palm oil is so destructive, I think everyone should be avoiding palm oil completely. Thank you for this video, Emily! I have heard bad things about palm oil in the past and have tried my best to avoid it, but from now on I will DEFINETELY never be buying palm oil again!
Thank you!
I really enjoy being educated by you!
Thank you so much for this video! :)
I've personally seen the contrast of palm plantations and the biodiversity of living in harmony with the jungle. Other than the palm there's no life in the plantations, and they offer little benefit to the locals.
+Bad Daddy Vegan thank you for sharing your experience in this. it really is devastating to the wildlife and earth.
Exceptional, Emily! Thanks so much-----
And we do appreciate the time you put in making these informative vids---
(And, the funny one, too!)
Well, as a vegan, palm oil is most def vegan. To me. And in my area. I get my palm oil from my own grove of trees here in Nigeria. It harms no one, the tree isn't even harmed. I use palm oils for my Nigerian dishes (that are extremely easy to veganize; just don't add meat/fish).
Thank you for your videos. It's really hard but we have to keep going and fight for the entire earth that hurts because of our greed.
It Annoys me when company's like Becel can sell a "Vegan Butter" that's made with Palm oil. How is that Vegan Becel
Somebody give this lady a Pulitzer Prize for research journalism please! Thank you Emily. Just yesterday got on to my spouse about the palm oil in his raw almond butter product.
I had no idea how bad it is, from now on I will do my best to avoid palm oil and if not possible, to make sure it's from a sustainable plantation.
I'm a newbie vegan, and I can say that cutting out palm oil would make less stuff available. but at the same time I had already been thinking about getting rid of it. I think ethically sourced palm oil would be vegan.
I have been trying to go palm oil free . It seems like its in so many things !! I am using the app scanner but there is so many products not yet on the app : /
This just further confirms that I should just go fully raw.. I don't have to worry about anyone suffering for anything that I purchase.. to my knowledge.
I agree with you I personally don’t eat palm oil and have never had palm oil in my time going vegan but it can be tricky and I understand why it is a good idea to slowly cut it our
Why do so many companies use palm oil? Why do they not use another oil?
Emily, you should do a video about the negative environmental impact of the banana industry and the gmo cotton industry
this is an amazing piece and i really appreciate all of the work that went into the video.
Emily do you know if there are funds that we can pay into to encourage the land owners to maintain the land without farming them? It seems very unfair for us to all say they shouldn't farm their land and better their situations. But if it was more profitable to keep it as forests etc. (i.e. they get more from donations) then that seems like a kind, voluntary solution. Rather than starving the people by not supporting the goods they produce I would rather donate to encourage them to keep the land as forests etc. We would pay towards that. And we would support the palm oil farms that practice sustainable farming on land that doesn't require mass destuction, (But labeling here would be very important as you mentioned). I would rather we simply supported the farms that do things correctly, in palm oil, seaweed and all plant foods. This requires labeling. But when it comes to protecting forests etc. I do think we should be donating to ask the land owners to maintain them, as we are asking them to give up their income otherwise which is not fair. If it matters to us, we should contribute to keep it.
I think this palm oil is found in all vegan-cheese and vegan-butter substitutes so always read ingredients and research it
+Khalid Emadi I don't know about vegan butters, but when I first became vegan and was buying microwave popcorn without butter, it seemed like there was palm oil in most.
its in daiyas sliced cheeses, but not the shreds (I think, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
Do you know by any chance whether 'organic according to eu standards' means anything when talking about palm oil?
+Khalid Emadi Nuttelex (vegan butter) is free from palm oil and neither does biocheese :)
sdushdiu I think she's referring to the environmental concerns, not the health concerns.
Extremely informative. Thanks
The only microwave popcorn in my local grocery store that doesn't have breastmilk in it, has palm oil :/
I'm dying without my popcorn fix
If you live in home/apartment with a stove, you can make stove top popcorn.
Thank you Emily
i'm a vegan and for now on i'll stop buying and eating things with palm oil in it. i didn't know it was bad for the environment! :( but now i do, thank u!
Excellent video. I never knew how destructive palm oil production was. We need more local food forests, not mono culture. See John's food forest videos at GrowingYourGreens.
Thanks for this one! Could you also make a video with your thoughts on coconut butter or any coconut products, cacao , or any other exotic vegan foods. What are the concerns we should be aware of? I have recently discovered raw coconut butter for making treats and it has saved me from giving into conventional non vegan candy cravings. And seems to be a helpful source of fat which i crave.
because I am lazy and haven't fully studied this topic..I agree we should avoid and not use palm oil, but what is the alternative to use in it's place? Is their an equally viable option that is vegan?
which is better to eat (obviously neither), honey or palm oil!!?
Thank you for this really informative video!
Are other tropical oils (like coconut oil and cacao butter) also as destructive as palm oil? Thanks!
Great stuff! Keep it up :D
I avoid palm oil and did for many years as an Omni also. I truly don't think it fits the original definition of veganism which cites exploitation and suffering in addition to dietary constraints. It isn't easy though, with all the names it can be called and I've honestly found the available apps to be really clunky and unreliable. I just do my best. Love your work Emily...keep on chugging.
simple answer is no, its not. but like you said, even with giving up all other animal products is a huge difference. I have *THE* hardest time saying no to mango sticky rice after a nice veggie thia meal, but don't fuss over oreos.
it is vegan imo, yes it harms animals but so do Banana plantations and most of the other oil alternatives.
please can you offer me something what to feed my pet with, since procecced pet food is junk and so is meat that i could buy in the hypermarkets? cats are carnivors but i dont want to feed my kitty with something that was tortured before
Much love!
I've never tried palm oil before, is it similar to olive oil?
I went vegan 6 days ago and had granola with palm oil. But I thought to myself I should probably avoid it.
Thanks. :) Ill keep a look out. (Ive been vegan before so not eating meat, dairy, etc is easy enough)
+Tom The Fish I think the best way for me to do that is to eat healthy so Ill work on that. :)
i love your shoulders!! and this serie is awesome:)
I've mostly gotten rid of palm oil in bath products n shit, but still looking for affordable palm oil free products tho 👌
I avoid palm oil. I'm at the point where I might as well live on a deserted island with my pets because I have a long list of items I won't buy.
So I'm wondering why don't the companies just get their palm oil from West Africa and make a deal with the Asian Governments to use facilities already in existence as long as they don't create more?
Euurrrghhhh but palm oil is in so many vegan products in the grocery store. DAMMMIITTTTT
How about synthetic beeswax?
I wonder if another species evolved to our "level" instead of us, if they would treat the planet the same way we do.
where is this link for the phone app?
So the RSPO isn't worth the time it takes to say its name? I'm just going to chew grass from now on.
Subcribed!
similar to coltan i suppose
Are bananas vegan? Should I buy organic or regular bananas?
It doesn't matter :) all bananas are vegan, but organic is "healthier"
Great video :D!
Does this mean that oreos aren't vegan?
I consume red palm oil that is produce in West African. Palm oil fruit tree is indigenous to West and Central African. My West African ancestors consumed this oil in their daily diet. Please, in the future when you make these discussions, please have the whole facts. You are giving Palm Oil a bad name, the oil of my ancestors, my West African ancestors consumed this oil for thousands of years. Palm oil is from a plant, its a very healthy oil. The Palm fruit oil trees that are in Africa have been there for hundreds of years. Please make a clear distinction between Asia produced Palm Oil and West African produced Palm oil in your videos next time.
1000% not vegan
Thank the universe, the sumatran orangutans pop of 14k now!! And there's now an estimated 400 to 600 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. 🧡 My husband and I don't eat palm oil. one Thankskilling we bought a food kit to celebrate indigenous peoples day and the soup had palm oil so we threw it out. Even though cspo palm oil is more sustainable, I'll stay away.
My teachers vegan
it's vegan, so i consume it on occasion when it's in vegan products... it's in vegan products, i'm pretty sure it's vegan..... if not i'm getting ready to sue all the times i ate "non vegan" products that claimed to be CERTIFIED VEGAN
Alexis Rose though possible very unlikely as only 21% of Palm oil being produced is actually from a Sustainable source. :(
Does this mean oreos aren't vegan since they have palm oil?
Yes and no. Pam oil is vegan. You should just avoid it
+Johanan Micaiah They don't ethically source their palm oil unfortunately. There is ethically sourced palm, and you can check on the package. Usually people are really happy about that and will list it right on the front. :)
I love these kind of informational videos... 😊I'd suggest you to make a video for vegan products.👗👠💅🍴
You can separate them into categories and make a different video for each one.🎥 E.x. beauty, food, clothes, shoes, cleaning products. These may help the average consumer make more responsible purchases. You can as well include some "wrong" products that are popular or though to be vegan...
+Nancy Assimakopoulou thanks for the ideas :) that's been on my list for some time...hopefully will get around to it sometime soon!
Oh really..!!! That's nice...😊Can't wait 🙌❤
So, as a vegan, what oil should I use?
Most vegans would recommend against using oil for health reasons, but from an ethical standpoint it would probably be best to try and find an oil that is made from locally sourced ingredients (although this can be hard) and organic (not so hard)
grapeseed oil is a great choice. Both ethical and pretty healthy
+Randiir According to Dr Greger, no oil is healthy; being a refined fat it raises cholesterol, increasing your risk of heart disease, on top of other negative health effects.
OREOS HAVE IT O.O
I consider palm oil to be vegan. For the definition of vegan to mean anything. Otherwise we would get into a slippery slope situation and we could only eat the type of food with the lowest environmental and animal bykill impact, because doing otherwise would mean causing unecessary death and environmental destruction.
That said. Given the condition in how it is curretently produced it is damaging to the environment and biodiversity.
As solutions I propose:
- A reduction in our consumption of it (I don't consider a total abolition to be a must in our ethical obligations)
- Consumer driven demand for products with the sustainable label
- Political preassure for labeling and planting palm oil elsewhere where it does not cause the destruction of the few rainforest we have left.
- This may not seem related but it is: Don't procreate. There are too many humans in this planet and living unsustainably. With less people there is more land for other species.
my country is one of the biggest importers of palm oil 😞 thanks to our animal agriculture.
Great video,
the most i already know,
But the amount of greenhouse gas wow that's a lot,,,,,,,,,😨
I actually don't eat Palm oil
I eat low-fat hi carb, actually extremely low fat
The most I eat is fruit 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍏🍏🍊🍊🌽🍠🍠🍅🍅