Sunday, January 6, 2013

Palm Oil

I had never gotten around to researching myself, but I had vaguely seen and heard that the creation of palm oil plantations can be a very devastating process, and that rainforests were being cut down in order to harvest palm oil - either directly or by planting the palm oil tree plantations once the forest was gone.

This has been driving many rainforests to the brink of their existence along with the animals and people who call these places home.

My husband and I, have become extremely mindful in the supermarket about which products we buy and what ingredients they contain.  Doing our best to avoid anything with palm oil. 

I decided to research a little more about palm oil.

And, can I tell you there is a lot of information on the web!  Many are saying that it's one of the world's top threats,even more so then the use of fossil fuels. 
One of the reasons for this is because the forests we are so hastily harvesting in order to grow these trees are immense carbon sinks for the planet.  Once these trees are cut, all of the carbon that has been stored throughout the forest's existence goes into the atmosphere.  That is pretty intense.

It's also said that 50% of all products in the grocery store contain palm oil. http://ran.org/palm-oil#
Biodiesel production from palm oil is in demand globally, and as mentioned before is more damaging than regular petroleum.  For a better biodiesel option check out my previous blog on biofuel made from algae. 

If you do a google search engine for 'Palm oil'.  You can easily find a bunch of videos and articles about the social injustices and environmental destruction. 

But of course palm oil is one culprit and paper trees are the other.  Most likely, USA is one of the biggest users of paper on the Earth. 

Many books are not made from ethically sourced materials.  So books made from recycled paper -- lets start requesting this as consumers! 
Check out this website for more information: http://ran.org/make-sure-your-shopping-rainforest-safe

The most commonly stated endangered animal due to palm oil plantations is the orangutan and sumatran tigers. 
http://ran.org/tripa-expose

Here are a few organizations really doing a lot of work to help this problem. 

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - NGO working to create more sustainably sourced Palm oil
Nature Tropicale
Green peace
Rainforest rescue


The following are a few interesting excerpts from wikipedia on palm oil: 
- some are postive excerpts about palm oil.  But it is important as a consumer to learn to discern which products are healthy for the world to support and which aren't.   If in question, buy local as much as you can.  Know your farmer.. or BE your own farmer.  Let's bring back nature into our daily lives :) 


"A 2011 analysis of 23 countries showed that for each kilogram of palm oil added to the diet annually, there was an increase in ischemic heart disease deaths. The increase was much smaller in high-income countries."[95]

"PT Carrefour Indonesia reiterated its commitment to exclusively source for sustainable palm oil products by 2015.[82] In August of that same year, RSPO marked one million hectares of certified sustainable land, bringing the volume of sustainable oil to over 5 million tonnes.[83"]"

"Palm oil producers have been accused of various human-rights violations, from low pay and poor working conditions[62] to theft of land[63] and murder.[64] However, some social initiatives use palm oil profits to finance poverty alleviation strategies. Examples include the financing of Magbenteh hospital in Makeni, Sierra Leone through profits made from palm oil grown by small local farmers,[65] the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance's Food Security Program, which draws on a women-run cooperative to grow palm oil, the profits of which are reinvested in food security,[66] or the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's hybrid oil palm project in Western Kenya, which improves incomes and diets of local populations.[67]"


In Kenya--
 "Since 1993 a new hybrid variety of cold-tolerant, high-yielding oil palm has been promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in western Kenya. As well as alleviating the country's deficit of edible oils while providing an important cash crop, it is claimed to have environmental benefits in the region, because it does not compete against food crops or native vegetation and it provides stabilisation for the soil.[61]"


Columbia
"Some Afro-Colombians claim that some of these new plantations have been expropriated from them after they had been driven away through poverty and civil war, while armed guards intimidate the remaining people to further depopulate the land, while coca production and trafficking follows in their wake.[58]"


Indonesia has been one of the biggest exporters of the oil, however it's said that,   "In Kalimantan, the activity of palm oil companies endangers the living space of Indigenous Tribes,[50] and orangutans. "[51]


These are also taken from Wikipedia but it refers them as having unclear sources, but could most likely be easily researched,

"According to Hamburg-based Oil World trade journal,[citation needed] in 2008, global production of oils and fats stood at 160 million tonnes. Palm oil and palm kernel oil were jointly the largest contributor, accounting for 48 million tonnes or 30% of the total output. Soybean oil came in second with 37 million tonnes (23%). About 38% of the oils and fats produced in the world were shipped across oceans. Of the 60.3 million tonnes of oils and fats exported around the world, palm oil and palm kernel oil make up close to 60%; Malaysia, with 45% of the market share, dominates the palm oil trade."


"As the food vs. fuel debate mounts, research is turning to biodiesel production from waste. In Malaysia, an estimated 50,000 tonnes of used frying oils, both vegetable oils and animal fats, are disposed of yearly, without treatment, as wastes. In a 2006 study, researchers found used frying oil (mainly palm olein), after pretreatment with silica gel, is a suitable feedstock for conversion to methyl esters by catalytic reaction using sodium hydroxide. The methyl esters produced have fuel properties comparable to those of petroleum diesel, and can be used in unmodified diesel engines.[44]"


I know, this all can be overwhelming.  I guess the most valuable thing I learned from all of this research is to be more mindful.  Use less paper- if not totally stop using it.  Be more mindful of the products we buy, check ingredient lists.  If you can't pronounce the ingredients.. maybe put it back on the shelf, if it says palm oil.. just think about it.  Apparently palm oil is found in soaps, laundry detergent, dish soap, butters, processed foods, cereals, the list goes on. 

If you really feel motivated there are several organizations who are taking donations check out some of the ones I've listed earlier.  Contact local representatives, contact businesses who use palm oil- check to see if they are ethically sourced. 

We deserve to know the truth, we deserve to help each other out as people. 

There are solutions. 

In fact, we are the solution. 

Thanks for reading in! 

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