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The Forum > Article Comments > Why palm oil does not deserve its bad press > Comments

Why palm oil does not deserve its bad press : Comments

By Tim Wilson, published 27/1/2010

Oil palm is substantially more sustainable compared with other oils: it needs less land and less resources to produce more.

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If two million workers are now reliant on the palm oil industry, that equates to a similiar amount of land that has already been cleared to grow the palms. This represents a substantial loss of habitat for whatever wild life there is in these countries. It seems like you do not have any regard for these unfortunate endangered animals.

David
Posted by VK3AUU, Wednesday, 27 January 2010 1:57:15 PM
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VK3AUU

What would you have those two million people do? The article says that, compared to alternatives, palm oil is relatively high yielding. If this is true, then making people grow and/or eat something else will cause more environmental devastation, not less. If we want people – especially poor people – to change the way they make a living we have to offer feasible alternatives. Or would you prefer that they starve?
Posted by Rhian, Wednesday, 27 January 2010 2:20:30 PM
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David does prefer that those, mostly Asians and Africans, gaining a livelihood from oil palm plantations and feeding billions across Africa and Asia, all not white, should exist on handouts as a prelude to dying out, while those earning a living from and consuming olive oil, soy oil, canola, all white, prosper as we deserve. For the Davids of this world, latent racists as they all are, poverty and starvation is what non-whites deserve - and will get from David.
Posted by Tom Tiddler, Wednesday, 27 January 2010 3:00:09 PM
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What a one-sided article.

What about the long-term impacts of deforestation. The worldwatch link below reveals the following:

"This expansion came at an annual expense of some 340,000 hectares of Indonesian countryside, mostly tropical lowland forests. The government plans to establish about 1.4 million hectares of new plantations by 2010, according to the Indonesian Palm Oil Commission. The industry group estimates that more than 7 million hectares of plantations have been established, leaving an additional 24.5 million hectares available for future expansion"

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6059

Not sure how enslavement of migrant workers on palm-oil plantations is helping the poor as is happening in many cases. Nor the impact on rural communities living in rainforests who are forced out by expanding oil palm companies.

The employment argument is a furphy. How can employment be an issue when Malaysia largely uses migrant labour. And for migrant labour there is no shortage of countries recruiting migrant labour (including Australia) for work on rural properties. Where is the employment issue?

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0917-oil_palm.html

Those in the palm-oil industry are not going to benefit from the negative effects of deforestation either. Palm oil also contains large amounts of saturated fats and are often hydrogenated and most often used by international food companies in processed food because it is cheap.

It is like saying we should still be manufacturing DDT because people will be out of work. Employment is not the only issue when it comes to the wellbeing of people.

Sustainable populations is another issue that needs to be addressed and assisting developing countries to improve social support infrastructure will go a lot further than perpetuating environmentally damaging industries which add no value to food health.

More interesting reading:

http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:UwasOb1T6CsJ:www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/palm_oil_final_5-27-05.pdf+palm+oil+owned+by&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk
Posted by pelican, Wednesday, 27 January 2010 3:33:02 PM
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There you go. Pelican's references say more than anyone can about the threat to wildlife. Don't blame me for the non-whites of the world shagging themselves out of house and home. They are doing it all to themselves quite well without any input from me at all.

David
Posted by VK3AUU, Wednesday, 27 January 2010 8:42:52 PM
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The bad press I have heard is that palm oil is bad for you, which probably has more effect than saving cute simians.

This article does nothing to refute this.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Thursday, 28 January 2010 6:58:41 AM
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I find it disturbing that poor peasant farmers in developing countries are being forced out and their lands destroyed all so we can eat cheap fatty junk food. How much of this palm oil is used by the locals? It might be cheap but I bet the locals still cant afford to buy it. Another example of the rape and plunder of developing countries by and for the benefit of us decadent westerners. Although Im not sure it is that much of a benefit. After all most palm oil is used to make highly processed, high fat, trans fat laden junk food. The very food killing us with obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Posted by mikk, Thursday, 28 January 2010 7:55:31 AM
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Actually, it is used to make biofuel and one of the by-products of that is pharmaceutical grade glycerine. Unfortunately for the well intentioned investers, the glycerine was supposed to be the icing on the cake as far as the income was concerned, but all they managed to do was produce a glut in the market for glycerine and the share price went through the floor.

David
Posted by VK3AUU, Thursday, 28 January 2010 5:51:05 PM
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No matter which way you look at this one, more and more rainforests
are being chopped down, to make way for oil palm plantations.

So the last of the wild Orang Utans are losing their habitat,
for the production of bio diesel.

So the question arises, why don't species like Orang Utans deserve
to live on a patch of this earth too? Why only ever more humans?
I mean, their population is down to a few thousand, ours is nearly
7 billion. Its a philosophical question, but to me its an important
one. Its not just Orang Utans either. Much the same is happening
to the last of the wild chimps, bonobos and gorillas in Africa.
All pretty sad really, in my opinion anyhow.
Posted by Yabby, Saturday, 30 January 2010 9:09:17 AM
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