Ask Dr. Oz to Only Promote Sustainable Palm Oil

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. 
 

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. 

If Dr. Oz does believe palm oil is such a great product that people should be using, he should promote only sustainable palm oil and talk about the issues associated with unsustainable sources. He is a very influential person in the health & wellness sector, and offers great healthy living information so he holds a huge role in ensuring people are also making environmentally sound choices. His show on the benefits of palm oil influenced millions to buy it. If he had talked about the sustainability aspect, that would have been millions compelled to buy it from a sustainable source, and have the knowledge on this important topic.

The Best Ways to Take Action Against Palm Oil:

1. Be an informed consumer, known what names to look for on labels.

1. Look specifically for cosmetics and foods that don’t contain palm oil, they’re out there, you just have to look for them.

1. 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!