I know that this sounds so passe, but I honestly feel that the action of boycotting is never an old news. We boycott certain products/brands in different ways, times, and reasons. Also, since we are now rampant with the news of Indonesia getting burned (not “burning”. “Being/getting burned”. There’s a difference), there have been some discussions among Indonesians themselves on boycotting palm oil-derivatives products.

One of them was an IG Reels by Nadya Hutagalung. Nadya was an MTV VJ for MTV Asia back in late 90s/early 2000s and a model. She’s now still a model, and she has been focusing on environmental issues. In the video, she remarked on how we could choose chocolates (the sugary snack) that are not using palm oil as part of the ingredients.

Now, I’m not focusing on Nadya’s video. What I found interesting was the comments. Don’t get me wrong, the comments were mostly positive and in support of her. However, I noticed some of them read, “tapi saya masih pake minyak sawit untuk masak/menggoreng…” (“… but I still use palm oil for cooking and deep-frying…”)

As a housewife and the one that is usually cooking for the family: I get it. Palm oil is cheap and easily available in this part of the world. It’s even considered as one of the elements in Indonesian’s sembako (sembilan bahan pokok/the nine essentials) and palm oil itself has been one of the backbones of the country (and its neighbor, Malaysia) economy. To ban palm oil from Indonesia’s kitchens would be cruel, especially if those who condemn the oil are those live-love-laugh white people with no understanding how the world works and how Global South came to be. Those people can just go to Hell for all I care, because I know exactly those types; begpackers and colonizers leeching off the locals in Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok. Somehow they got the caucasity to lecture the very locals they robbed from about “live mindfully and environmentally-friendly”.

This is where I think Nadya is on point in her video: She talked about chocolates. A “fun food”, something that might not be needed by every kitchen in Indonesia in daily basis. Yes, it might be difficult for the families to switch to different type of oils for cooking or method due to access or price, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to switch to a different brand of chocolate.

I know no-one asked; that said, I would say that it’s okay if you still use palm oil for cooking. In my case, I do use palm oil for frying or sautée-ing, but I have been able to keep the consumption at minimum/as little as possible, thanks to airfryer. If you still use regular stove and wok to deep fry your bakwan jagung or perkedel with palm oil, hey, no worries. You can try find other alternatives for your less-essential needs, such as snacks. If, in the end, you still couldn’t switch products or brands at all for whatever reason, I hope that you wouldn’t beat yourself over it. Leave the switch and the boycott to us who can do it. What matters is that we now know and we know how to voice out our concerns, which means that as an end-consumer, we have rights to force the corporations to comply with the environmental regulations, no? As in, yes, we still need palm oil, but we want the one from sustainable sources.

So while palm oil can be produced sustainably, most claims about sustainable production risk greenwashing the sector’s widespread environmental harms. Many environmentalists would argue that we need to reduce the amount of vegetable oils that we consume, alongside improving production. Demand could be cut by reducing our consumption of ultra processed foods and cosmetics or stopping the use of palm oil in biofuels.

—- Sustainable palm oil

Remember the “trend” Hit the Pan and Underconsumption? That trend of using the products, mostly beauty/cosmetics products and skincare, until it’s very last drop/swipe? Or that trend of stop doing hauls, especially clothing, that coming from fast-fashion companies such as Shein? Yeah, that shouldn’t be a trend. That should be our normal. Unfortunately, social media set our consumption level to turbo mode because so-and-so just bought the newest phone or so-and-so got themselves a sweet deal on Shein or Amazon or wherever it is. This goes the same way with our palm oil and O&G (oil and gas) industries. Humans still need energy sources to continue with their lives, but there is, and always been, a line between making the best out of the sources and plain greed.