#oh and the clothes are made from flax since that’s the traditional material used for Latvian clothing

[cornedbread]

Childish memories…

《Funfact: Billy’s Girlfriend was originally named “An Old Friend” in older versions of Billy’s Basic Educational Game》

[ecovoyage]

What’s the deal with palm oil?

You eat a plant-based diet. You never purchase or wear (advertise) clothing made from any animal. You don’t support businesses that pro-animal cruelty or anti-LGBTQ+ or pro-racism. You avoid aquariums & zoos like the plague and don’t buy fast fashion. You understand the false assumptions linking morality and distance travelled, morality and tradition/culture. morality and superiority. You wouldn’t dare purchase from Nestle or any of their smaller businesses. HOWEVER, you still eat palm oil.

So what’s the deal with palm oil?

I’m glad you asked.

Fundamentally, palm oil is the oil extracted from oil palms. Oil palm trees are native to West Africa. Today, however, the largest producers and exporters in the world are Malaysia and Indonesia. About 85% of the oil is used for food. It is found in over half of packaged foods at the grocery store, such as ice cream, shampoo, lipstick, detergent, bread, fast foods, and nut spreads, just to name a few.

Palm oil destroys the health of humans and non-human animals as well as the environment, and exploits workers and habitats every day.

Let’s start with the environment:

The tropical plants thrive in a wet, warm climate - the tropical rainforests. Unfortunately, these regions of rich biodiversity are being desimated at alarming rates in order to provide land for these huge plantations.

Palm plantations are the leading cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia, and they produce 90% of the world’s palm oil (Rainforest Rescue).

Every hour, a rainforest acreage equivalent to about 300 soccer fields is cleared for palm oil plantations. At current rates, by 2032, 98% of Indonesia’s rainforests may be gone.

The loss of rainforests:

contributes to global warming emissions: the Indonesian rainforests grow on tropical peatlands, a major carbon sink. After clearing native trees, all remaining vegetation is burned and the land is drained. This process releases drastic amounts of CO2 into the environment. Clearing rainforests accounts for about 10% of TOTAL GLOBAL WARMING EMISSIONS.

Harms animals and their habitats - Rainforests used to produce palm oil are home to unique species of animals and plants, some found nowhere else in the world. Deforestation is destroying crucial habitat for endangered species including the orangutan, elephant, and tiger.

Pollutes the air - Burning rainforest lands to make way for oil palms creates significant air pollution. Exposure to the smoke from such fires is estimated to contribute to 339,000 deaths every year in Africa and Southeast Asia. Oil palm plantations also use copious amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In fact, fertilizer use in Asia increased by 1,900% in the last 40 years, primarily due to the growth of the palm oil industry. Damn.

Palm oil is also used for biofuel. Almost 50% of biofuel imported to the European Union is used for motor vehicles.

Okay, okay, so it’s terrible for the environment. And for human animals?

Palm oil ruins the lives of people who depend on rainforests for their livelihoods.

Up to 2 million Indonesians work in the palm oil industry. Laborers are subject to low wages for long hours of grueling work. Reports of forced labor and slavery are persistent and more than disturbing.

Child labor is another serious problem. The industry often compels children of palm workers to work, treat them poorly, and pay them dreadfully low wages (if they pay them at all).

The industry also violates the rights of indigenous peoples by seizing extensive tracts of their land (forced eviction).

The palm oil industry loves to remind everyone that it provides work for people. You know what else provides work for people? Prostitution. Three cheers for terrible arguments!!!

Health Impacts

Like all oils, palm oil is the extraction: what is left over. To make this analogy understandable, since most people aren’t eating palm trees anyway, let’s use the analogy of flax seed oil. Flax seeds, one of the world’s oldest crops, are loaded with omega 3 fatty acids, fiber, protein, and most importantly, carbohydrates (our primary form of energy!). The omega 3 fatty acids are crucial as the human body does not create its own ALA (alpha-linolenic acid). This nutrient helps to lower cholesterol, reduces artery inflammation, and even reduces the size of tumors. Flax seeds are also high in lignans, which have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. Flax seeds contain up to 800x more lignans that other plant foods! The dietary fiber found in this seed are also incredibly important for digestion. People eating the government-backed diets (or worse) are at huge risk for Type 2 diabetes. Thankfully, flax seeds are effective at controlling blood sugar levels. Flax seeds are super versatile. Try sprinkling them on a salad, into a smoothie, on oats, mixing them into your favorite plant-based yogurt or ice cream, mixing them with water to replace an egg aka chicken period, use them to thicken anything you cook/bake. Lazy? You could even mix them into water to get that extra oomph in your day. ANYWAYS, back to the oil analogy! Despite the flax seeds amazing health benefits, that doesn’t mean it’s processing into oil keeps all these benefits. Imagine you have those beautiful flax seeds on your counter. They then go down an assembly line of underpaid, overworked laborers before entering a giant extraction machine. On the other end, after undergoing many different temperatures (oh yeah, real cave(wo)men stuff. just like our ancestors... sigh), and being exposed to various pesticides and pollutants along the way, the viscous material at the end is unrecognizable. Let’s start simple. During the extraction process (of all oils, bear in mind) nutrients are stripped away. The only macronutrient that remains is the fat (0g protein, 0g carbohydrates) and the sources of nutrients are low if not non-existant. Foods digest easier when they contain a balance of macronutrients. Oils also slow blood flow, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and has a negative impact on our immune systems. When these oils are heated, chemicals are released into the air; this increases our risk for lung diseases and other respiratory problems. Luckily, there are so many healthy sources of fat that are also loaded with other macronutrients and micronutrients (try a loaded sweet potato with plain peanut butter, banana coins, cinnamon, and sprinkle of seeds). Back to the point: this flax seed analogy is equal to the palm oil extraction process. Palm oil has about the same nutritional profile as olive oil and therefore is completely unnecessary. Palm oil contains large amounts of harmful fatty acid esters that are known to damage DNA and cause cancer.

Sustainable Palm Oil: Does it exist?

Good question.

Short answer? No.

Palm-oil forests certified as “sustainable” are being destroyed faster than non-certified land. Sustainability labels are leading to greater expansions of plantations, driving orangutans toward extinction and destroyed natural carbon-absorbing rainforests.

“The implication is that there is no reason for companies to claim sustainable palm oil and to use labels for certified products because, in terms of deforestation, there is no significant difference between a certified and a non-certified palm oil plantation. Both need (or needed in the recent past) the complete removal of the original tropical forest.” - Roberto Gatti, Agriculture Research Associate at Purdue University

Like most environmental issues, the products are pushed into the treadmill of production and facts are hidden, due to the power and riches of businesses and the government. Don’t fall for their destructive actions.

Alternatives

All oils are heavily processed and provide no health benefits (more information coming soon on my blog). However, palm oil is the worst of the bunch. If you must use oil, I recommend avocado oil as it has a high smoke point or coconut oil due to its mild taste and versatility. Coconut oil is great for skincare, haircare, and dental care! Lately I’ve been adding a step to my daily routine: Oil Pulling. This ayurvedic practice kills harmful bacteria in your mouth, reduces bad breath, helps to prevent cavities, reduces inflammation and improves gum health, and whitens teeth. How to oil pull? Put about a tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth and swish around for 10-20 minutes. Then spit out the oil and brush your teeth. (Alternatively, keep a spoon with coconut oil in your mouth).

Anyways, back to palm oil.

Some final facts

More than 62 million metric tons of palm oil are produced globally on 20 million hectares of land, with projected growth of 5 percent per year until 2020.

Palm oil is sometimes hidden on the ingredient list. It may be: Palm oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm stearin, Palmolein, Palmitate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and many others. Sometimes it is simply “Vegetable oil.”

There’s nothing “natural” about the extraction of palm oil. After refining the flesh of the palm fruit and the kernel, the oil is modified for different uses. Milling involves the steaming and pressing of the palm fruit to separate oil from kernel and fibers. Crushing is performed by cracking the kernel to remove the shell and then crushing and pressing again. Refining is how impurities are removed from the oil. Fractionation is how oil is separated into liquids (oleins) and solids (stearing). Distillation is how oil is heated and cooled to extract fatty acids. Interesterification is how fatty acids are rearranged to change melting points. Glycerolysis is when chemical bonds are broken with glycerol to keep oil from separating with water.

How to recognize, avoid, and combat palm oil:

Enjoy a home cooked meal. Fresh ingredients good for your health, the humans, the non-humans, and the planet

Read labels! Know the equivalencies. Don’t forget cosmetics, food for your animal companions, and cleaning products

Google for alternatives! Hazelnut chocolate spreads are delicious, and they don’t have to contain any oil

Customer is king. Supply and demand! Reach out to retailers to create palm oil free products. So long as you keep buying them, you are driving production. As fewer people buy these products, businesses won’t keep producing it. This goes for all animal products as well of course

sign petitions and write your elected representatives! Online campaigns put pressure on policymakers responsible for biofuels and palm oil imports. Have you already signed all of Rainforest Rescue’s petitions?

Speak out & donate. Protest marches and street action are keys to change and threatens policymakers. People are also often hesitant to donate to charities, which is understandable - try The Oranguatan Project. After donating, you can see on an interactive map exactly where and how your money is helping stop palm oil production!

Leave your car at home. For more reasons than just palm oil!

Be informed and inform others. Ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is also arguably the #1 reason why change doesn’t happen quicker. Big Business and governments would like us to believe that biofuels are good for the climate and that oil palm plantations are sustainable. Spread the word – share this information with your family and friends and encourage them to rethink their consumption habits.

**Use up the products already in your possession that contain palm oil to not create waste.

And remember, there is no Planet B.

//

Sources

https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil#start

https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/palm-oil-the-hidden-truth-lurking-in-your-home

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/12/palm-oil-products-borneo-africa-environment-impact/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/12/palm-oil-products-borneo-africa-environment-impact/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/flaxseed/faq-20058354