Why Avoid Palm Oil?

Cookies, baked goods, snacks, soups: thePalm oil It's a plant-based ingredient found in many commonly used food products. There are two fundamental unknowns. The first concerns the answer to a simple question: Can it cause harm to our health? The second unknown is related to the destruction of entire forests and ecosystems in the countries where its production is most concentrated: from Indonesia to Uganda, from the Ivory Coast to Tanzania. Huge forests are destroyed every year to grow oil palms.Often they are even set on fire to free up as much space as possible, causing inestimable damage to flora and fauna. According to the Greenpeace report, "Final countdown” (September 2018), “Since the end of 2015, another 130.000 hectares of forest have been destroyed, 40% of which in Papua, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.".

Index of topics

What is palm oil?

THEPalm oil It is an ingredient of vegetal origin, extracted from the fruits of the palm tree, widely used, in general, by the entire food industry for brodi, soups, cookies for breakfast, creme e ready mealsFor three reasons. First, it's inexpensive and readily available on the market at reasonable prices, thus helping to reduce production costs. Second, it has a stabilizing effect, helping foods achieve the right consistency and preserve better. Third, it doesn't alter the flavor of the food products containing it.

Damage to health

Although palm oil was long considered harmful to health, it was later discovered that it isn't. However, since it's a saturated fat (like butter), it should be consumed without exaggeration, to avoid problems with the arteries. The guidelines for protecting our cardiovascular system recommend not crossing the 10 percent overall threshold, in terms of energy supplies, of saturated fats ingested every day. As for the risks linking palm oil to cancer, as also noted on the website of the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC), with a normal diet it is very difficult to reach quantities with which palm oil is capable of developing cancer cells. In any case, regarding saturated fatty acids, in palm oil there are 49,3 grams for every 100 grams; in butter there are 51,3 grams; and in products packaged with it cocoa butter, it rises to 60 percent (data from Crea, the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy).

Cardiovascular risk

An important, and somewhat conclusive, statement on the alleged link between palm oil and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease was made by the Italian National Institute of Health: "There is no evidence that palm oil has different effects on cardiovascular risk than other fats, such as butter." But there is evidence, and plenty of it, to suggest everyone minimize snacks, snacks, and food products made with palm oil, especially for children.

Why the food industry won't abandon palm oil

With a few isolated exceptions, the food industry generally hasn't abandoned palm oil, despite the many doubts surrounding this ingredient. Why? First of all, it adds flavor to desserts and is inexpensive. And it's much more versatile than any other vegetable oil, so much so that it can be used in a wide variety of food products. Organizations like Greenpeace argue that eliminating its production isn't the best solution; rather, it's necessary. promote responsible cultivation, removing from the market crops that destroy forests or violate human rights.

Small farmers are threatened to sell their land

As Greenpeace highlights, often Small farmers are threatened and pressured to sell and rent their plots of land to the government or multinationals. They find themselves selling their only source of income at rock-bottom prices. The exponential growth of palm oil plantations, to meet the demand of large food industry groups, has led to the destruction of millions of hectares of forest, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia, with the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. wild deforestation.

Forest destruction causes harm to indigenous populations

La intensive deforestation The effects of oil palm cultivation are not only destructive to animals and vegetation, but also to many indigenous populations living in these areas of the planet. They find themselves forced to abandon lands they have inhabited for centuries. The most obvious example concerns the northern province of Esmeraldas, on the border between Ecuador and Colombia: this is where the world's largest palm oil plantations are located, and between 2001 and 2019, this province lost 116 hectares of forest, 8 percent of its total. Some native plant species have disappeared, and natural habitats have been destroyed, without the wealth generated by the palm oil industry having significantly benefited local populations. In the province of Esmeraldas, 72,2 percent of the population lacks the means for a dignified life, and a third of the inhabitants live in extreme poverty. Palm oil plantations destroy the environment and do not bring well-being to the areas where they are located.

Negative repercussions on the hydrogeological structure of the territories (and not only)

The hydrogeological structure of cultivated lands has been distorted and not only that. Palm oil cultivation, due to the fires that are set to clear the land and due to the reclamation of peat forests, causes surges in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, to the detriment of the environment.

The emergence of new crops often causes conflicts

Due to the emergence of new crops, they often trigger harmful conflicts to get hold of them.

Palm oil is still too unsustainable

Although many organizations are working to make oil palm cultivation sustainable, there is still much work to be done. Unfortunately, companies continue to lack transparency and exploit forests indiscriminately.

Those who work on plantations are often exploited

A report by Amnesty International “The great palm oil scandal” (2016) highlighted that those who work on oil palm plantations are often exploited. The palm oil market is often associated with violation of workers' rights.

Indiscriminate cultivation endangers several animal species

Again according to Greenpeace there are 193 animal species in serious danger of extinction, threatened precisely by the indiscriminate cultivation of palm oil. Just think that From 1999 to 2015, half of Borneo's orangutans disappeared and over three-quarters of Tesso Nilo National Park has been converted into illegal plantationsAnimals such as tigers, orangutans and elephants live in this park.

The village destroyed by palm oil

University of Sydney anthropologist Sophie Chao has recounted in her book the devastating effects of palm oil plantations on an entire population. We are in the Merauke region, where, in a completely opaque operation, the Indonesian government has allocated two million hectares of land to 36 multinationals. Vast swaths of tropical forest have been burned or cleared to make way for coconut palms and sugarcane. The entire village of Paulus is surrounded by these plantations, and with the destruction of the tropical forest, his people have lost their existential compass and their entire identity.

Biodiesel made from palm oil is not environmentally friendly

Palm oil is used to produce a biofuel whose production, in addition to being very expensive from an environmental point of view, is considered unecological by U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency.

Alternatives

What are the alternatives to palm oil? First of all theolive oil as long as it is of quality, then the butter which, however, just like palm oil, is rich in saturated fats. Further alternatives are represented bysunflower oil, From 'coconut oil and from that of rapeseedThe ideal is not to focus on using a single oil but to use several. In 2015, many multinational retailers committed to replacing palm oil with less environmentally harmful products: have they done so?