by Mae McCaw
By itself, palm oil is a plant-based/vegan/vegetable oil made from the fruit of the Elaeis Guineensis tree. It's been used in cooking for over 5,000 years (that should speak for itself; it's practically a godsend miracle food). With over 50 million tons of palm oil produced annually, it makes up 30% of global vegetable oil production and is found in roughly 50% of all household products in USA, England, Canada and Australia. This includes various products such as baked goods, pizza dough, packaged bread, instant noodles, ice cream, chocolate, margarine, lipstick/cosmetics, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, detergent, other cleaning solutions, and biodiesel.
HEALTH BENEFITS
Palm oil actually contains a number of health benefits to the human body.
(1) Palm oil has ZERO cholesterol.
(2) It LOWERS plasma and serum cholesterol levels in humans confirming that its "impact on serum lipid and lipoprotein profiles compares favorably to corn oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, and olive oil".
(3) It "stimulates synthesis of protective HDL cholesterol and removal of harmful LDL cholesterol".
(4) It is HEALTHIER than coconut oil, b/c it has LESS saturated fat.
(5) It's RICH in Vitamin E.
(6) It is the ONLY vegetable oil in the world market that NATURALLY contains "tocotrienols"--an EFFECTIVE ANTI-CANCER agent.
MANUFACTURING BENEFITS
In today's world, it is most desirable to and commonly used by food manufacturers in so many other products, b/c
(1) it requires ZERO hydrogenation processing AND
(2) lengthens shelf life.
(3) It's cheaper to use palm oil otherwise the costs are so much greater to do this with polyunsaturated oil substitutes, b/c of their market price and required hydrogenation to yield the same results that palm oil can do naturally.
SOCIAL BENEFITS
85% of the world’s palm oil is produced in Indonesia. 45% of Indonesia’s palm oil producers are smallholders who rely on the industry for their livelihoods, to lift them out of poverty. This enables them to do the following:
(1) Feed their families
(2) Buy clothing and other personal items
(3) Put a roof over their heads
(4) Send their children to school
INITIAL NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN TARGET
Palm oil was an easy target for a massive negative (health-harming) advertising campaign in a market dominated (70%) by GMO soybean oil. In the early 1990s, the FDA finally cracked down and made negative campaigning against palm oil illegal...one of the reasons is b/c they couldn't admit why coronary disease rates increased with products (especially baked goods) using palm oil substitutes, b/c as mentioned earlier, those substitutes contained saturated and hydrogenated fats and oils
TODAY'S NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN TARGET
Remember that the plant-based vegetable oil itself is NOT harmful to human health. On the contrary, it possesses a number of benefits as mentioned previously. The problem is the development expansion to manufacture palm oil in AFRICA and more importantly, SOUTHEAST ASIA (Malaysia, Indonesia)--the latter comprising 85% of global production. It is also manufactured in N. America and S. America. The expansion in Africa and Southeast Asia, however, has made a terrible impact on the environment using highly unsustainable measures.
DEFORESTATION
This alone has many impacts and threats to the ecosystem due to “slash and burn” techniques in order to clear native forests:
(1) 1000-5000 ORANGUTANS are killed ANNUALLY with 90% of their habitat obliterated in the past 20 years because of deforestation for palm oil production. The effects of this loss include the following:
- Orangutans are key primates responsible for maintaining the ecosystem, tasked with spreading rainforest seeds that can only germinate as it passes through the gut of the orangutan
- They cannot survive in the forest without food and a habitat (both of which are destroyed during deforestation)
(2) 300,000 other species are also threatened in the same way--injured, killed and displaced.
- Some well known animals include the Sumatran Tiger, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Sun Bear, Pygmy Elephant, Clouded Leopard and Proboscis Monkey.
(3) Climate change threatens global warming with the removal of rainforests contribute in controlling the global climate system as...
- Forests are burned to the ground (destroying primate habitats)
- Smoke rises into the air emitting massive quantities of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere (Indonesia, 3rd largest carbon footprint in the world)
- Since the primary job of trees and plants is to filter the carbon dioxide and release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis, this is no longer possible with deforestation which means the air is filthier
- Land is drier (rainforests are key in creating precipitation), hence affecting weather. “Forests pull in large amounts of water vapor from surrounding regions and from nearby bodies of water. As the vapor condenses into rain, the local atmospheric pressure drops. Which sucks in more water vapor from outside the forest. Which repeats the process. Creating a positive feedback loop. The whole rainforest-water vapor system is called a biotic pump, because the living forest matter is what’s moving the water.”
(4) Since the biosystem has been destroyed, land erosion occurs as well as pollution of rivers
(5) Encourages poachers with easier access to the jungles by road systems built in areas of deforestation
ROUNDTABLE ON SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL (RSPO)
In 2002, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) collaborated with industry stakeholders to come together to find solutions for the sustainable development of palm oil and to avail it to the global market without the threat to animals, land, and climate change. In 2004, this collaborated effort established the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO. Today, 40% of palm oil producers are members of RSPO. For this reason, it is CRITICAL for consumers to support and purchase RSPO certified sustainable palm oil from plantations audited and found to comply with globally agreed environmental standards or the eight principles and criteria as devised by the RSPO.
8 PRINCIPLES FOR RSPO ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS & CERTIFICATION
(1) Commit to transparency
(2) Compliance with applicable laws and regulations
(3) Commitment to long-term economic and financial viability
(4) Use of appropriate best practices by growers and millers
(5) Environmental responsibility and conservation of natural resources and biodiversity
(6) Responsible consideration of employees, and of individuals and communities affected by growers and mills
(7) Responsible development of new plantings
(8) Commitment to continuous improvement in key areas of activity
SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL RESOURCES
For more information on RSPO and sustainable palm oil, visit the sites below:
- Sustainable Palm Oil Platform - http://www.sustainablepalmoil.org/
