On 1 May 2019 we had a fascinating meeting entitled ‘Addicted to Palm Oil?’. We learnt that Oil palm is an amazing crop. It produces up to 9 times as much oil as any other crop so boycotting it could lead to its replacement by other crops which need more farmland and probably more deforestation. We need active consumers to demand a trustworthy certification scheme for sustainable palm oil; consumers who are prepared to pay a higher price for such a product. The Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) seems to be the most robust of several certification schemes there are at present. Jo Hand told us about an app for your phone that she and her husband have created https://gikibadges.com. It helps you find the products in the supermarket that fit your values and beliefs, such as the products that use sustainable palm oil. You can scan the barcodes and find out in seconds what’s good for you, better for the environment and fairer for others.
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We’re part of Global Justice Now, a democratic membership organisation which campaigns against inequality and injustice in the global economy. We want to see a world where ordinary people control the resources they need to live a decent life, rather than corporations and the super rich calling the shots.