Palm oil, soybeans, and orangutans

Palm oil, soybeans, and orangutans. I know what you're thinking, why am I talking about food and orange apes? Don't worry I have a reason. Last time I talked about how old growth Forrests should be preserved and why they matter so much to wildlife. This post is similar but about different animals.

Companies like Ritz Crackers, Nutella, Skippy, Nestle, Kraft, and many more use large amounts of palm oil in their products. Palm oil grows in rainforests and jungles where orangutans and of course many other animals live. Huge plantations have been replacing these biodiverse tropical rainforests destroying the homes of orangutans and many other species. Indonesia is responsible for 84% of the world's palm oil and harvests 33.4 million tons of it a year (various). Indonesia is also home to the now critically endangered orangutans. The UNEP estimates that an area of Indonesian rainforest the size of six football fields is cut down every minute of every day (Swink). That's crazy right? The sad part is that orangutans have emotions just like us and even share 97.8% of our DNA (Swink). Orangutans are truly amazing animals that are now soon to be extinct. It is estimated that in 20 years orangutans will be extinct (Barrett).  




Soybeans are in soy milk, soap, tofu, and lot's of other foods.  The problem with soybeans is that they are pretty much a substitution for palm oil. This makes it so companies can say their products are palm oil free, but they still may contain soybean which isn't great either. If more soybean oil goes into products that previously used palm, that ultimately will lead to more soy plantings in Brazil’s cerrado savannah, an activity that’s indirectly linked to this year’s Amazon fires (Fickling). So how are soybeans related to the fires in the Amazon? There is a rush to plant soybeans because of the backlash of palm oil. Mainly in Brazil where most of the Amazon lies people are burning the forests down in order to make room for, you guessed it, soybean plantations. 

What can we do?

To help solve this issue you can actually do a lot! By spreading information to not buy things that contain palm oil or soybeans in them you can help save the Orangutans. Next time you go to the grocery store you can also make sure the products you are buying are not only palm free but also soy free. This way you won't fall into the trap marketers have set for people who are hoping to save the environment. There are also many petitions out there that you can sign to help stop this issue. By eliminated products like Nutella from your grocery list can really make an impact. 

Thanks for reading today's post and stay tuned for more!

Sources:

Barrett, Kenna E. “Stop Using Palm Oil in Nutella. Save the Orangutans!” Change.org, Change.org, www.change.org/p/stop-using-palm-oil-in-nutella-save-the-orangutans.

Bloomberg, David Fickling |. “Analysis | Palm Oil's Price Switch Won't Save the Orangutan.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 Nov. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/palm-oils-price-switch-wont-save-the-orangutan/2019/11/25/2f8e7b0a-0f5d-11ea-924c-b34d09bbc948_story.html.

“Endangered Species Conservation.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/.

Patricio, Miguel. “Land Grab for Soybeans Blew Up the Amazon Rainforest.” CNS, CNS, 28 Aug. 2019, www.courthousenews.com/land-grab-for-soybeans-blew-up-the-amazon-rain-forest/.

         Swink, Margaret. “What's in Your Food That's Destroying Orangutans?” Grist, Grist, 4 May

2010, grist.org/article/whats-in-your-food-thats-destroying-orangutans/.

Un. “UNEP - UN Environment Programme.” UNEP - UN Environment Programme, UNEP, www.unenvironment.org/.