On my trip to Costa Rica my partner and I were driving around everywhere seeing rows and rows of these absurdly straight rows deep in the rainforest. Even on a rainforest tour we were seeing cleared areas of rainforest with straight little rows of these squat little plants in various stages of maturity. Finally we pulled over and asked the locals and figured out what we'd been seeing all over the place.
GUYS ITS PALM OIL. THEY ARE CLEARING THE RAINFOREST TO PLANT PALM OIL.
This hit home because my day job is working on sustainability issues (although I don't work on deforestation), so seeing this up close was very eye opening. Palm Oil is a case of unintended consequences- as obesity became a larger problem (literally and figuratively) and the pressure to adopt less GMO ingredients, food manufacturers starting using it in their operations as a substitute for traditional fat additives. As demand grew, developing countries stepped up to meet that demand, increasing the potential for increased emissions and exploitation.
Palm grows on these conical pods (almost like a pineapple) that are chopped off by workers. It can be a labor intensive process, with workers climbing ladders or cherry pickers and using long saws.
I had to break open one of the berries to see what this "oil" was all about. It was odorless and stained my hands and nails a bright shade of yellow-orange. It tasted bitter and really sticky-tacky, kind of like tree sap. (I mean they told me not to put it in my mouth but I had to try, ok?)
Kind of worrisome that this is in all of our food. (It is refined before it makes its way into our food, not the sticky berry I broke open.) Palm Oil can be listed under a bunch of sneaky names that you can research. Several organizations work with smallholder producers and mills to ensure responsibly sourced palm makes its way into our food that does not disrupt rainforest ecosystems. You can check them out here.
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