Palm oil is in just about everything….from snacks (chips) to beauty products to…..soap..both commercial soap and handmade soap by cottage industries.

Palm oil plantations are the #1 reason our rainforests are being destroyed and the burning of peat fields contributes to pollution resulting in climate changes….which effects the entire eco-system.

Country Meadow Ltd. will never use palm oil in any of our products…ever.

More information below:

Rainforest Action Network

**Palm oil and the destruction of vital ecosystems
Palm oil plantations are expanding into the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems, including rainforests, grasslands and peat swamps in South America, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Africa. These regions are home to millions of plant and animal species, including highly endangered orangutans, clouded leopards, and sun bears.

**Palm oil contributes to global climate change
Transforming ecosystems into monocultural oil palm plantations contributes heavily to climate change. Rainforests are clear-cut and burned, and carbon-rich peat swamps are drained and burned. Deforestation accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and is the primary reason that Indonesia and Brazil are now the world’s third and fourth largest greenhouse gas polluters.

Palm oil results in the displacement of Indigenous people and small family farmers. The spread of massive palm oil plantations often violates traditional and Indigenous land rights by forcing small family farmers to shift from subsistence to export-driven commodity farming or pushing them off their land entirely.

Palm oil is produced through exploitative labor practices. Many palm oil-plantation workers face abuse, harsh working conditions, unfair pay, and exposure to toxic pesticides. In Papua New Guinea, a gendered system of palm oil harvest called the Mama Lus system pays women less and forces them into harder, more dangerous labor than their male counterparts.

**Who is causing rainforest destruction?
U.S. agribusiness giants ADM, Bunge and Cargill are the ABCs of rainforest destruction: They dominate the world markets for palm oil and soy crops that are grown on cleared rainforest lands.

ADM is deeply involved in the production and sale of palm oil. It is also one of the greatest recipients of government subsidies, which means taxpayers are footing the bill for ADM’s rainforest destruction. An ADM affiliate, Wilmar, is the largest palm oil producer in the world, and its practices are among the most destructive.

Bunge, though not a household name in the U.S., is the largest agribusiness and food company operating in Brazil. While Bunge is primarily involved in soy operations that are devastating communities and ecosystems throughout South America, it is also among the largest importers of palm oil into the United States.

Cargill is the most powerful agribusiness and commodity trading group in the world. It owns a dozen plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, where it grows oil palm on freshly cleared rainforest land. It is also a major global trader of palm oil.

**What is the Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign?
Rainforest Action Network’s Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign is working to defend forests, farmers and our climate by demanding that ADM, Bunge and Cargill stop clearing rainforests for industrial-scale palm and soy plantations. We work in partnership with communities and small family farmers affected by the expansion of palm oil and soy crops, as well as with local NGOs that work on related issues. In the United States, we work with grassroots supporters, shareholders and partner NGOs to pressure ADM, Bunge, and Cargill and the companies they supply to find sustainable alternatives to palm oil.

Our campaign focuses on food and fuel—the main types of ingredients for which palm oil is used in the U.S. market. We address the use of palm oil in food, soaps and cosmetics by identifying which products contain palm oil and what palm oil-free alternatives are available. We also address palm oil as a source of agrofuels—or industrial-scale biofuels—which are the leading cause of the recent wave of palm oil expansion.

**Please Note: We (Country Meadow Ltd.) have not signed the pledge on the above website because we do NOT use palm oil in any of our products!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Planet Save

So what is the problem with palm oil?
Take a peek at this short video!

**To Recap The Video:
Palm oil is in many common supermarket products such as snacks, candy, and even soaps and detergents. Rainforest Action Network has created a site to educate consumers on the how destructive palm oil is to our global environment. Palm oil destroys vital ecosystems, contributes to global climate change, results in the displacement of Indigenous people and small family farmers, and is produced through exploitative labor practices.

Please help educate grocery shoppers about these facts and take action in anyway possible. RAN tells us: “Palm oil plantations are expanding into the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems, including rainforests, grasslands and peat swamps in South America, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Africa. These regions are home to millions of plant and animal species, including highly endangered orangutans, clouded leopards, and sun bears.”

Big palm oil companies pay to have important oxygen providing rainforests clear cut for their palm crops and painfully push out the native people that rely on the land. This endangers the plants, animals and waterways that entire communities have thrived on forever.

Endangered rainforest ecosystems that are made into monocultural oil palm plantations not only hurt locally but also globally as they contribute heavily to climate change. How is this? Well, in order to grow their palm crops beautiful rainforests are clear-cut and burned, and carbon-rich peat swamps are drained and burned. This burning causes major pollution.

“Deforestation accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and is the primary reason that Indonesia and Brazil are now the world’s third and fourth largest greenhouse gas polluters.“

In addition,“the spread of massive palm oil plantations often violates traditional and Indigenous land rights by forcing small family farmers to shift from subsistence to export-driven commodity farming or pushing them off their land entirely…” and “many palm oil-plantation workers face abuse, harsh working conditions, unfair pay, and exposure to toxic pesticides. In Papua New Guinea, a gendered system of palm oil harvest called the Mama Lus system pays women less and forces them into harder, more dangerous labor than their male counterparts.” explains Rainforest Action Network.

Now with internet campaigns like this it is possible for the word to spread faster than their fires and for us to take a collective stand against palm oil.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco-Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com