Palm Oil, The Killer in our Products
- msveganastic
- Jul 6, 2019
- 4 min read
The reason why I say NO to palm oil.
Living in Malaysia, palm oil is everything. Honestly, in this country it is life. It is the oil that is used in every restaurant and in a lot of households. You just say palm oil and people know what you are talking about. You can see rows and rows of it when you are driving from one state to another or even to or from our international airport. Palm oil supports a lot of workers here and it is highly regarded. So, in a country that to some extent worships palm oil, what made me, little old me, say no to it? Well this is my story.
Like many others for years I used products without a care if it had palm oil in it. Shampoos, detergents, cooking oil, peanut butter, snacks, etc. they were all on my shopping list. I heard about people overseas talking about how bad the palm oil industry was but as a person who comes from a country that has a big hand in its production, I took no heed towards it. But that all changed when a friend at the time decided to do a story on the palm oil industry. I remember the first photo she sent me with the words "Karisma, this, this is palm oil. Can you imagine?" I cried for a while after looking at the picture. The images of an orangutan being set on fire as it tried to protect its child just played in my mind over and over again. That night I went through everything in my house from food, to household items, to healthcare products, to hygiene products and I almost died. Out of a 100 products that I read the labels of 86 of them had palm oil. I cried even more, I was buying products without a care in the world. How could I, someone who calls herself an animal lover, how could I support an industry that causes so much pain and damage to animals? How could I have been so blind?
Weeks and weeks went by and I researched more and more. To my surprise the only write ups about the health benefits and other benefits of palm oil were done by people who worked for the industry, were paid to write those articles or who benefit from the industry in some way or other. Not one, and I say this again not one of those articles that spoke positively about palm oil was written free of charge or without some motive. The more research I did, the more blogs I found on the negative impact that palm oil had- deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced.I was floored. How could I have not seen the amount of damage this industry was doing? How could I have been so blinded? Then it hit. A lot and I mean a lot of money is made from this industry, and many countries benefit from it, so of course they would be feeding us with all these positive aspects; because it benefited them. These articles on how great palm oil is, made more people buy it and invest in it and use it. All these positive post and articles distracted people from the negativity that surrounds this. It blinded us. But I was blind no more. My eyes were open, and I decided to be more mindful about palm oil.
It has been 4 years since I consciously went palm oil free. As a vegan, I have tried to the best of my ability to make my house a palm oil free zone. There have been some accidents, but I am only human. Now although my house is palm oil free, there is no way of stopping restaurants that I may dine at from using it (well not yet at least). So, I guess the fact that I am making the conscious decision to avoid products with palm oil at home, gives me some peace of mind.
As an animal and nature lover, I try my best to support companies that treat animals, the environment and the people who work for them with respect. I understand that we need space to grow crops, we need man power, we need to fast and efficient production, etc. but there are means and methods that can be followed so that it is done in an ethical manner. And I guess this, is where I stand. So, as a plea to those who read my blog, make a conscious effort to know where your products are coming from and the values and ethics of the companies that sell them. If we all do a little, just one little step at a time, to better the lives of those who do not have a voice then we are what I call or what Salman Khan has tagged as "Being Human;"not only to people but to other living things that matter on our planet. So, I end this with an Arapaho saying "when we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us."
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