#notopalmoil

Palm oil has been a main item of trade and production of almost anything, globally. We use it for a wide variety of cooking, processing food, but we can also find it in soap, lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, and in some countries, diesel.

It's everywhere.

And why not? It's easily produced and ridiculously cheap. But aside from the fact that palm oil is in every product we use, even in the bags of our favorite potato chips, what do we really know about it?

I wouldn't give you a number or statistics that most of us don't really relate to, because come on, do we really care about those? We don't care about numbers. Mostly, because we have no idea what those numbers are for. We have no idea how massive palm oil plantations are or how much this production affects us or the entire planet, and frankly, we don't care. Because we like to consume, and we like to consume cheap and easy.

What do we need to produce palm oil? Silly question. Of course we need a vast land to plant oil palms which is the tree that produce palm oil fruit. But the demand is so high we need to cut trees, kill vegetation, and destroy forests to plant more oil palms. 

Can you imagine? Destroying a whole forest and natural habitat for many species while adding to pollution and contributing to climate change and global warming just to produce palm oil. And for what? A small amount of money.

Small amount? That's insane. 

Palm oil industry helps the economy to diminish other problems. It allows employment and access to bigger opportunities. It gives consumers cheap options for products which is convenient for third world countries. But the ugly side of this story is the fact that lots of endangered species primarily Sumatran Orangutan and even indigenous people have lost their home and were displaced due to deforestation to give way to oil palms plantation. This deforestation also results to a higher level of global greenhouse gas emission, warming the earth even more. While the cultivation alone reduced biodiversity.

See, it solves problems but gives bigger problems at the same time. And that is why we need to pause for a second and think. What we get from palm oil production is small compare to what is coming. It's small compare to the global impact involving us, not just the environment and animals. It involves everyone--you, your family and friends, your children, it involves everything that is inside this planet.

I, for one, admit that it will be tough to fully avoid consuming palm oil because again, it's everywhere. It seems like we cannot run away from it. It’s not too late to slow down. 

It’s not too late to say no.

You can start by replacing your cooking oil with other oil that is less harmful to the planet. There are a lot other alternatives you can choose including canola oil, soya oil, sunflower oil--believe me, you have options.