Ban the Use of Palm Oil in our Products & Foods
- by: Hella Madison
- recipient: Paul Polman, Unilever CEO
Palm Oil is an oil that comes from the African Oil Palm plant. The African Oil Palm plant needs tropical conditions to grow. It is a widely favoured ingredient in both the food and cosmetics industry and is now the second largest oil crop. It can be in anything from the blush you use to the licorice you eat. Recently, it has been experimented for use as a biofuel, regardless of the fact that studies have shown that using palm oil-based diesel actually increases green house emissions. Due to extreme demand, tropical forest in Borneo, Sumatra, Indonesia, and the Amazon are cleared to be made into large oil palm plantations. According to Say No to Palm Oil, an area the size of 300 football fields is cleared every hour in Borneo and Sumatra to create more palm oil plantations. To clear these lands, the forests are usually either burned, or cut down for timber to sell for a hefty dollar as fine hardwood. Burning these lands releases a massive amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as the trees and peat in the area do a fantastic job of absorbing them, but unfortunately when they are burned, all this good is undone. The water table and local waterways are also effected by palm oil plantations as harmful pesticides and herbicides are heavily used. The Amazon Rainforest is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, housing exotic and rare wildlife and plants. Once this bountiful area is converted into a plantation, it can only be used for 20 years as it will turn into desert land without the canopies of the massive trees.
Social Impact
The palm oil industry also affects the local people as many rely on the forests for their livelihood. Also, land for oil palm plantations is usually not compensated for fairly or just taken from the local peoples. Though the industry creates more jobs, it is questioned as to if it provides fair wages, if they actually employ local people, and if working conditions are suitable. Most of those questionable factors, highly unlikely.
Animal Impact
More than 90 of the endangered Orangutans' habitat has been demolished to be turned into land for palm oil plantations. According The Sumatran Orangutan Society, over the past hundred years the number of orangutans living in Sumatra has gone from 315,000 to less than 7,000. Orangutans only have one baby every seven years, making this issue of vast importance to save this endangered species.
In 1997-1998, an estimated 8000 orangutans were killed from massive forest fires in Borneo set to clear land for palm oil plantations.
SOS reports that orangutans may be extinct within 50 years due to the rapid pace of lost habitat.
Other animals such as the Asian Rhinoceros, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Sun Bear, Pygmy Elephant, Proboscis Monkey, and Sumatran Tiger have also been heavily impacted by the palm oil industry.
Health Impact
The consumption of palm oil is also linked to adverse health effects. It is high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat. The World Health Organization has urged the public to avoid saturated fat in their diet as it is linked to heart disease. Unfortunately, it is not currently required for companies to label palm oil on their products. Roughly 50% of packaged foods contain palm oil, so start reading your labels! Palm oil can be disguised by other words in the ingredient list, common other names for palm oil include: palmitate, cetyl palmitate, palmate, hydrated palm glycerides, and sodium lauryl or laureth sulphates. It can also be hidden behind a more generalized ingredient name such as vegetable oil.
Future generations, as close as my children, might not get to see orangutans, or tigers, or polar bears for that matter as the destruction of the rainforest releases massive amounts of carbon emissions contributing to global warming further. We need to take a stand on this issue, before it is too late.
The Best Ways to Take Action Against Palm Oil:
- Be an informed consumer, known what names to look for on labels.
- Look specifically for cosmetics and foods that don’t contain palm oil, they’re out there, you just have to look for them.
- Spread the word. Inform friends and family, most people don’t even know what palm oil is, never mind is impact on the planet and their health!
Dear Paul Polman, Unilever CEO
Unilever is a large influential body in the pacakaged food, beauty, and home care section in the market today. Many of your products use palm oil, an ingredient that is harmful to produce on the environment as it needs to be grown in tropical regions, deminishing our bountiful rainforests and endangering its wildlife. The Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, and it is being cut down or burned to make way for these palm oil plantations. Species that live in these regions are suffering greatly, some being burned in the horrific fires, some being slaughtered for being caught on the plantations. We are losing valuable plant and animal species for this cheap, replaceable ingredient. Future generations, as close as my children, might not get to see orangutans, or tigers, or polar bears for that matter as the destruction of the rainforest releases massive amounts of carbon emissions contributing to global warming further. There is a social impact aspect to palm oil plantations as well. Taking land away from the indigenous peoples in the area and removing food sources they find in the rainforest that they rely on. Lastly, palm oil is high in saturated fat, contributing to heart disease as stated by The World Health Organization. To sum this letter up, palm oil is not a healthy choice in any of the products your comapny offers. It can be replaced by another oil, such as coconut, which is healthy to consume and an amazing ingredient for bath/beauty products. The Amazon Rainforest is like the lungs of the Earth, it is imperative we protect it. The world belongs to all of us, and people are becoming aware of the issues associated with palm oil. If a large company such as Unilever made this change, it would be an motivation for other large companies and give a cleaner, more environmentally sound connotation. I greatly thank you for reading this letter, and urge you to look further into this issue. At the end of the day, a decimal cent more to buy a different type of oil is worth it for the great cost palm oil has on the planet.
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