I know it's depressing but I have to speak up about this. I really love animals. And children. And the occasional elderly person. They all have value, are inspiring and amazing living being and are vulnerable.
Being the Cancerian gal that I am, I have a tendency toward taking things under my wing - usually the down and out, downtrodden underdogs of society. I'm not even just talking about individuals. My chosen football team are perpetually trying to win and I do tend to support the awkward, dorky and perserverant, the ones you want to give a 'Good Try' sticker!
But jokes aside, this whole palm oil thing just has to stop.
I see photos of orang-utans and they break my heart. They don't even have to be living in the forests of Borneo. But to know that their gentle souls and very existence is being threatened by nothing more than greed absolutely sickens me!!
The images here are graphic and unpleasant but they tell the wider world the truth of just how cheap palm oil is. How a population can call itself human and allow this to happen is disgusting. I'm not even exaggerating when I say I'm embarrassed to be categorised in the same species as the people who have done this to defenceless peaceful beings. And it outrages me that it continues to happen, like there is nothing we can do to stop it.
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| orang-utan buried during deforestation clearing |
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| orang-utan badly beaten by villagers for eating precious$$$ palm seeds - note his arms over his head, attempting to protect himself |
If we treated our pets this badly, we'd be up on criminal charges. And yet, these living beings can suffer horribly and the perpetrators get away with it. No doubt because the perpetrators have money and money equals power. And that is the abject stupidity of it. When all is said and done, these peaceful beings were murdered for money, nothing more, nothing less.
So how do we stop it? Deforestation of palm trees has been occurring for longer than I'd like to admit, before the cameras of the world shined a lens on their inhumane and murderous work. And still, the governments that govern these countries do nothing to prevent these obscene murders from occurring. Legislation can skim through parliaments quickly when there's money greasing those notes. Sadly for the orang-utans, the grease is on the wrong money.
Personally, I'm voting with my feet. Today's grocery shop was the first time I went into a market informed on how to identify palm oil or potential palm oil in products. And you need to inform yourself because producers are a sneaky bunch and seem reluctant to state when they do use palm oil.
Be especially astute with regard to products containing vegetable oil. If the label states vegetable oil and then goes on to state the amount of saturated fat you can count on that vegetable oil being either palm kernel oil, palm oil or coconut oil. This is a way of potentially identifying if a product has palm oil in it as other vegetable oils are not saturated.
And I have to say, if you shop this way, not only is it good for the orang-utans for the world to demand less product containing their only food source. But it is also good because much of my purchases today were fresh produce with hardly anything fatty or unhealthy! No more chocolate or Doritos for me.
According to the WWF:
"If your shopping basket includes packaged products like bread, biscuits, chocolate, chips, sandwich spreads, instant noodles, shower cream and shampoo, then it’s likely you are buying palm oil.
Palm oil and its derivatives are present in half of all packaged foods on our shelves. This is because it is stable at room temperature and has a longer shelf life than butter or other vegetable oils.
Palm oil is used as a shortening to make biscuits and breads. It is also used for deep fat frying. Palm oil derivatives can be used in cosmetics because they make products like shampoo creamier."
Some manufacturers have started using palm oil for sustainable sources which are better for the environment in terms of deforestation, greenhouse gas emission and habitat destruction. You can find out more information about these companies and their work at:
Cosmetics absolutely MUST state if they are using palm oil, so if you find Elaeis oleifera or Elaeis guineensis amongst the ingredients, you may like to reconsider where you're putting your money.
More information:
http://www.palmoilaction.org.au/shopping-guide.html
http://www.orangutan.org.au/index.htm
http://www.wwf.org.au/our_work/saving_the_natural_world/forests/palm_oil/
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