{"id":11956,"date":"2015-01-28T18:56:36","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T18:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greensideup.ie\/?p=11956"},"modified":"2016-10-31T12:02:38","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T12:02:38","slug":"truth-palm-oil-need-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greensideup.ie\/truth-palm-oil-need-know\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About Palm Oil – What You Need To Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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photo credit: World Resources<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Mr G and I have tried to avoid buying products that contain palm oil for some time now but haven’t found it easy. Even though we use very few packaged items, we’ve still managed to find it in the chocolate spread, mayonnaise, shampoo, soap and toothpaste. We’ve switched to different products if we’re unsure whether companies are sourcing 100% sustainable palm oil and we’ve signed every petition we can, demanding that our favourite brands make the commitment to switch too. The dangers to the planet of our favourite brands using palm oil, as well as to the wildlife and indigenous people who live in the area its grown in, have been highlighted for years but too many of us still haven’t heard or understand why we should be bothered about this simple vegetable oil.<\/p>\n

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Reproduced with permission \u00a9Greenpeace\/Gesche Juergens<\/p><\/div>\n

The following information has taken days to amass (the sources have been\u00a0linked throughout the text) and initially it was only intended for Mr G and me to have a better understanding of the products we’re putting in our shopping trolley. However, given that I’ve found this information, it makes sense to share it and I hope give you a better understanding of what all the fuss is about.<\/p>\n

What is Palm Oil?<\/h2>\n

Palm Oil is a vegetable oil that’s estimated to be in over 50% of products for sale in supermarkets. It’s in the ingredients list of a vast amount of food as well as cleaning products, candles, health, beauty and cosmetics. More recently, it’s being added to biofuels – the ‘green’ alternative to petrol or gas. Palm oil is derived from the fruit of the Oil Palm,\u00a0(Elaeis guineensis jacq.) <\/em>a tree that grows in the humid tropics of West Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia, home to some of the rainforests. It’s a tree that local people in those areas are being encouraged to plant as the demand for palm oil from richer countries increases.<\/p>\n

\"What's

Plantation versus Forest – photo credit: CIFOR<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

What’s the Problem with Palm Oil?<\/h2>\n

Developing countries are making money from a resource they can easily grow, produce and sell and why shouldn’t they? If a country has the perfect climate for a farmed product that the rest of the world wants, why wouldn’t they grow it?<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the problem lies in the area oil palm trees thrive in – the South Asian and African tropics where the ancient forests grow.<\/p>\n

To make way for the massive palm oil plantations, the forests are being cleared and burnt, wild animals are being displaced and killed, as well as undocumented plants endangered. As the trees are removed and land cleared, greenhouse gases are being released, air pollution fills the cities and indigenous people are being displaced, often with human rights abuses being committed upon them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The World Wildlife Fund claims that <\/a><\/p>\n

“Global production of palm oil has doubled over the last decade. By 2000, palm oil was the most produced and traded vegetable oil,<\/strong> accounting for 40% of all vegetable oils traded internationally. By 2006, the percentage had risen to 65%.\u00a0Worldwide demand for palm oil is expected to double again by 2020.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With so much global demand for palm oil, governments, growers and workers living in the tropics, are encouraged to create larger plantations, selling the oil to richer nations. Currently 90% of palm oil production originates in Malaysia and Indonesia,\u00a0countries that are home to 25% of the world’s rainforests<\/a>. According to the team at Palm Oil Investigations:<\/a><\/p>\n

“Virgin rainforests are being destroyed at an equivalent rate of over 300 football fields per HOUR<\/span> in South East Asia<\/strong> to make way for new plantations.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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photo credit: World Resources<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Rainforests<\/h2>\n

The tropical rainforests are said to be the lungs of our planet, providing the earth with a large part of its oxygen supply and helping to break down carbon dioxide. As the forests are cleared for palm oil plantations, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere from the carbon rich soils that the ancient trees and vegetation once grew in. As the rainforests get smaller, global weather patterns are changing as the planet warms.<\/p>\n

Loss of Habitat, Extinction of Species<\/h3>\n

When the tropical forests are cleared, so too are the homes of the estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects that live within them, some seen as potential sources of cures for many diseases, but are now endangered. From orangutans to elephants, rhinos and tigers and not to mention the hundreds of thousands of smaller creatures and plants; their plight is desperate as biodiversity is reduced.<\/a> Due to deforestation,\u00a0at least 236 plant species and 51 animal species are facing extinction in Kalimantan<\/strong> alone<\/a>.<\/p>\n