Though labor issues have largely been ignored, the punishing effects of palm oil on the environment have been decried for years. Still, giant Western financial institutions like Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon, Citigroup, HSBC and the Vanguard Group have continued to help fuel a crop that has exploded globally, soaring from just 5 million tons in 1999 to 72 million today, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. alone has seen a 900 percent spike in demand during that same time.
They sometimes pay up to $5,000 just to get their jobs, an amount that could take years to earn in their home countries, often showing up for work already crushed by debt. Many have their passports seized by company officials to keep them from running away, which the United Nations recognizes as a potential flag of forced labor.
Indonesians such as Jum make up the vast majority of palm oil workers worldwide, including in Malaysia, where most locals shun the dirty, low-paying jobs. The two nations share a similar language and a porous border, but their close ties do not guarantee safe employment. He has lived this way too long, he tells the AP over the phone -- scared to stay, and scared to leave.A half-century ago, palm oil was just another commodity that thrived in the tropics. Many Western countries relied on their own crops like soybean and corn for cooking, until major retailers discovered the cheap oil from Southeast Asia had almost magical qualities. It had a long shelf life, remained nearly solid at room temperature and didn’t smoke up kitchens, even when used for deep-frying.
Often hidden amid a list of scientific names on labels, it’s equally useful in a host of cleansers and makeup products. It bubbles in shampoo, foams in Colgate toothpaste, moisturizes Dove soap and helps keep lipstick from melting.The uneven jungle terrain is rough and sometimes flooded. The palms themselves serve as a wind barrier, creating sauna-like conditions, and harvesters need incredible strength to hoist long poles with sickles into the towering trees.
The AP talked to some female workers from other companies who said they were sexually harassed and even raped in the fields, including some minors. Some of the same companies that display the RSPO’s green palm logo signifying its seal of approval are accused of continuing to grab land from indigenous people and destroying virgin rainforests that are home to orangutans and other critically endangered species. They contribute to climate change by cutting down trees, draining carbon-rich peatlands and using illegal slash-and-burn clearing that routinely blankets parts of Southeast Asia in a thick haze.
*USA COVID DEATH* March 1 – 1 Dead +6,459 =April 1 – 6,460 Dead +60,584 (No Panic) =May 1 – 67,044 Dead +42,465 =June 1 – 109,509 Dead +21,504 =July 1 - 131,013 Dead +25,751 =Aug 1 - 156,764 Dead +30,677 =Sept 1 - 186,405 Dead +20,905 =Sept 27 - 207,689 DEAD
I’ve been playing Final Fantasy IV: The After Years and the game just had me go on a mission tonight to get palm oil (to use as an alternative fuel for a ship).
SammiRaeWright Freedom lost, not to mention the great trees that harbor animals of every sort. This is breathtakingly ugly. Greed. 'Love of money is the root of All evil.'
How much more exploitation & criminal behavior do we have to endure until the world realizes that it is the capitalist system that is the problem. The capitalist system is organized crime! capitalism mutated into fascism long ago & is a violation of Human Rights!!!
palabrasdeabajo Is this any different from our European ancestors enjoying affordable cotton clothing? We are ignorant, complicit and we just don't care.
Sad that it has over 200 names. How can we help stop the use? Especially if it’s in so many products.
Don’t buy it. Anything that’s more sustainable ....Big 👍 up.
It looks like dry poop mixed with almonds, peaches and mint leaves
Sad , and a Supreme Court that suppresses Labor. Wake up America
Do they have more slavery than China? I say start with China.
Homo Sapiens are the only species on the planet that is trying to destroy its own species.
ManohlaDargis Come on people.
Nutella?
No comments from the fake newsers on this one, I see. Good journalism.
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