Worst Food Additive Ever..In 1/2 of All food We Eat, Destroyes Rainforests. ..Alternet.

[Stuart G]

http://www.alternet.org/story/152848/worst_food_additive_ever_it%27s_in_half_of_all_foods_we_eat_and_its_production_destroys_rainforests_and_enslaves_children?akid=7769.37525.SVvc6i&rd=1&t=15

AlterNet / By Jill Richardson Food Additive Ever? It's in Half of All Foods We Eat and Its Production Destroys Rainforests and Enslaves Children
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The production of this ingredient causes jaw-dropping amounts of deforestation (and with it, carbon emissions) and human rights abuses.

On August 10, police and security for the massive palm oil corporation Wilmar International (of which Archer Daniels Midland is the second largest shareholder) stormed a small, indigenous village on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They came with bulldozers and guns, destroying up to 70 homes, evicting 82 families, and arresting 18 people. Then they blockaded the village, keeping the villagers in -- and journalists out. (Wilmar claims it has done no wrong.)

The village, Suku Anak Dalam, was home to an indigenous group that observes their own traditional system of land rights on their ancestral land and, thus, lacks official legal titles to the land. This is common among indigenous peoples around the world -- so common, in fact, that it is protected by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

So why all this destruction? Chances are you'll find the answer in your pantry. Or your refrigerator, your bathroom, or even under your sink. The palm oil industry is one of the largest drivers of deforestation in Indonesia. Palm oil and palm kernel oil, almost unheard of a decade or two ago, are now unbelievably found in half of all packaged foods in the grocery store (as well as body care and cleaning supplies). These oils, traditional in West Africa, now come overwhelmingly from Indonesia and Malaysia. They cause jawdropping amounts of deforestation (and with it, carbon emissions) and human rights abuses


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An incredible article to read, worth the five to ten minutes to read it all...
One thing the article leaves out is this question. Why palm oil instead of say corn oil in food?
I am not a food person, but my guess is this...
I am guessing that it is a lot cheaper than stuff grown here. I am guessing that this is why the increase in demand..
but I am not sure, I must say..only a guess...
But I suspect someone at DU can answer that one..

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Palm oil is extracted from the fruit of the tree -- so they're cutting the trees down ???

Let me guess--just picking the damned fruit is "too expensive".

[TheWraith]

2. No, they clear land to grow palm trees. nt

[jberryhill]

4. Some baby oil manufacturers don't even use the leftover baby powder

[Stuart G]

3. Another thing about ..palm oil you should know. It is the worst thing for the heart.

Of all the oils that we consume, this one is the worst
..yes the worst when it comes to saturated fat..the stuff that cloggs up our
arteries around the heart. I have been there before, and will try to never go there again.

After my stuation with heart arteries clogging up, (they call it a heart attack)..

I read up on the oils..this oil vs that oil .. and the good and the bad ones..

The best one...olive oil...actally contains mono-unsaturated fat, stuff that uncloggs arteries..

Palm Oil ..I read, increases the
rate of clogging.. It is the absolute worst at clogging heart arteries.

If it has palm oil, I never buy it. Recommend the same to you..............Stuart G.

[LiberalEsto]

6. Obviously they're trying to kill us

Too many serfs... feed them lots of high-fructose corn syrup, palm oil, BPA, food coloring, etc. Result, in a few years, weaker, sicklier serfs who can't muster up the strength to rebel.

[lg59kis]

12. I agree. Olive oil is great

Palm oil, not so much

[msongs]

5. a quick pantry check shows....no palm oil foods nt

[Yavapai]

13. Since palm oils bad press, it usually is listed as "vegetable oil."

Palm oil is nasty stuff.

[pscot]

7. Here are links to lists of

products you may wnt to avoid: food,
personal care products, and miscellaneous.

[jowsybart]

8. can we find a more obscure focus of activism?

[Zyzfyx]

9. Heh!

[roody]

10. not obscure at all ---

People have been terrorized off of their land in many countries to make way for this needless product. You are paying for it by supporting US military in Colombia.

[roody]

11. This email came from Witness for Peace

I want you to be part of something very exciting.

It starts with two amazing girls. Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, two teenage
Girl Scouts, have been making a real difference in the fight against one of the most
environmentally destructive industries--palm oil production. Vast swaths of
rainforest, the habitat of orangutans and other endangered species, are destroyed
around the world to make way for palm oil--used in everything from cookies to
cosmetics.

In Colombia, the world's fourth largest producer of palm oil, the plantations not
only threaten pristine rainforests, they also lead to murder.

Madison and Rhiannon have launched a campaign to get palm oil out of the ubiquitous
Girl Scout cookies, educating millions about the environmental destruction caused by
palm oil production. Their efforts have been chronicled by The Wall Street Journal,
ABC News, CBS' Early Show, MSNBC and NPR, among others.

*Madison and Rhiannon have become exceptional campaigners against destructive palm
oil, but they didn't know that in Colombia palm oil production is connected to
murder.* There, 22 palm oil business owners have been jailed for working with brutal
paramilitaries to steal 35,000 acres of land for palm oil production. Farmers
standing in their way have been met with death threats and murder.

Next month I will take Madison and Rhiannon, their parents and a journalist to
Colombia on a fact finding mission. They will investigate the environmental and
human rights impacts of palm oil production, meeting with experts and farmers alike
and visiting the palm oil killing fields in Uraba.

This trip will allow Madison and Rhiannon to get a step closer to removing palm oil
from Girl Scout cookies. It wlll also further our work to reform the destructive
palm oil industry in Colombia and educate millions about the devastating impacts of
palm oil production.

*But to make this groundbreaking trip possible, we need your help.* An extemely
generous Witness for Peace member has offered to fund our work with Madison and
Rhiannon if other WFP supporters donate $3,500 toward the costs of this trip by the
end of the week. <[br />http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5436/t/2467/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1036
]

*Can you make a donation of as little as $5 or $10 today to help make this amazing
opportunity a reality? <[br />http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5436/t/2467/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1036

You contribution will support the efforts of two courageous young women that are
inspiring millions around the country. You will help protect the environment and
human rights. You will help us get destructive palm oil out of the Girl Scout
cookies.

I know partnering with Madison and Rhiannon we can make a difference, but only with
your support. *Please make a contribution of any amount today. <[br />http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5436/t/2467/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1036
]*

Thank you!

In deep gratitude,


Jess Hunter-Bowman
"Associate Director"
Witness for Peace

P.S. If you want to be inspired, watch Madison and Rhiannon speak on national
television about their campaign. <[br />http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/24/earlyshow/main20065638.shtml ] And then
make a donation today <[br />http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5436/t/2467/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1036
] to support our work with them in Colombia.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Stuart G.