What is Palm Oil?

In recent years I have heard bits and pieces about palm oil and how it is used in many, many products that we consume (grocery and cosmetic items) and how it is impacting on precious tropical forests in south-east Asia, particularly orang-utan habitat. Other than these things, I don't know a lot more about palm oil or its issues.

I was reminded of this issue this morning when reading the finished box of soap as I took it from the bathroom and to the recycling bin. I think the brand is "Country Life" and it advertises itself as Australia made and owned and Palm Oil Free. You will also find in smaller print it is made from locally and imported ingredients (as most things do).

Anyway, I thought I should have a look into what "palm oil" is. WWF has an informative webpage that describes palm oil as being derived from the "fruit of the oil palm tree", which comes from two main oil palm trees (African Oil Palm and American Oil Palm). Further information about palm oil and its uses from WWF site include that

"the palm fruit yields two distinct oils - palm oil and palm kernel oil. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit, is edible and used in food. Palm kernel oil is extracted from the seed of the fruit and is used mainly in the manufacture of cosmetics."

The growing of oil palm trees seems to be quite widespread around the tropics, with palm oil plantations in our region being focused in Malayasia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Furthermore, these plantations are apparently often associated with illegal or unsustainable deforestation activities (although I will have to investigate this further).

Once again, the consciousness of the consumer can make a difference to such matters and certainly impact on businesses and activities outside our national boundaries. We can achieve this just by making informed choices about the products we choose to buy.

As the GreenPalm.org website states that if we just stop "our" consumption of palm oil, it is likely that the product will then just be purchased by another "user". But, if appropriate assistance (in the way of education and trade support, for example) can be provided to primary producers in these regions (many countries being third world nations) there is the possibility they will be able to modify their  businesses towards sustainable practices. There may also be better planning (through assistance) for new plantations, thereby reducing or preventing deforestation of these important areas.

My understanding is that the GreenPalm group is supporting such actions for this industry through the development of a certificate trading program for palm oil, which includes the labelling of products containing sustainably produced palm oil. WWF and a number of other interested groups also seem to tackling the issues and providing education to consumers and producers, as well as developing standards for responsible palm oil plantations, through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Again, it can come down to being conscious of your choices, choose products that have sustainably produced palm oil or no palm oil (where there is sustainable product alternatives) and try to find out where the "imported ingredients" come from and generally make informed decisions.  

If you'd like to know more details of what countries and brands are using palm oil, as well as their commitment to utilise sustainable palm oil sources in the future, the WWF has developed the Palm Oil Buyers' Scorecard 2011: Measuring the Progress of Palm Oil Buyers.

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Where does it come from?

As a result of my rising interest to know where my food comes from and to buy local, potentially organic and good quality, I have started to pay attention to the origin of the products I am buying. This has certainly been eye-opening to say the least.

Here are a few of the things that I have noticed over recent months.

• All tinned tuna (all brands) in my local independent grocer store come from Thailand and many don't tell you what type of tuna it is (that is, is it threatened blue fin or a bit better yellow fin)
• All but one brand of frozen vegetables (mixed variety) in my local store come from China and the one that doesn't comes from New Zealand
• All the clothes that I have looked at in main stream stores come from China, no matter what price range I looked at
• The moisturiser I use (one based on nasty petrochemicals and probably tested on animals) is made in Thailand
• Many of the main stream brands of tampons seem to be made in some part of Europe, with the ones I have looked at made in Germany or Slovenia
• Many manufactured products which are 'made in Australia' say they are made from local and imported ingredients. The label then denies you information about which ingredients or proportion of ingredients come from which country. 
• Much of the bulk-provided organic food (ie non-local markets) comes from wide and far in Australia, with many of my local producers potentially using traditional, chemically enhanced agricultural methods. 

I have found this a fascinating journey to discover where things are produced, certainly with my attempt to buy food from within 250km of my household. But the one thing that has been considerably absent is the amount of information on packaging, which makes it really difficult to make informed choices about your food your buying and available in the mainstream and market-dominating shops.

Next time you're at the shops, maybe take a look to see where the things you're buying come from. Might make you think about all sorts of things rather than just what colour it is or how cheap it is. Maybe you could even drop me a comment and let me know what thoughts were stirred up by this exercise.   Pin It

"Happy" World Food Day

The 16th October 2011 is World Food Day (celebrated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations).  This year's theme being "Food Prices - from crisis to stability". This theme reflects the precarious nature of food availability and how fluctuations in the price can significantly people in third world countries.

The objectives of this day are to:

• encourage attention to agricultural food production and to simulate national, bilateral, multilaterial and non-governmental efforts to this end; 
• encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing countries;
• encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions;
• heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world; 
• promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world; and
• strength international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development.

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7 billion people

The planet Earth will be home to 7 billion people at the end of this month, according to UN projections. What an amazing and overwhelming number!

There are so many implications for the planet as we approach this number, including social, economic and environmental impacts associated with having a population of this magnitude.

The article that inspired me to write this post is available in Nature Climate Change and discusses the consequences of the locality of this population and the projected impacts of climate change. As you're aware, people are not equally spread across the globe and neither will the consequences of climate change and this article explores some of the research that will analysis such information. You can view the article I reference in this post at http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v1/n7/full/nclimate1235.html?WT.ec_id=NCLIMATE-201110.

I have many personal opinions on the planet supporting this number of people. Whether my opinions are factual or not I have yet to determine, but thought it important to share this amazing and important demographic fact with you all.




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Is environmental concern just a first world, middle class concept?

As the title suggests there is some belief that concern for the environment (and things that fall under this umbrella term) is just something the middle class, wealthy and first world countries can be concerned about. I have mixed feelings about this but came to some realisation the other day that if you're fighting hard to put food on the table and provide clothing and shelter for your family, the fact that there is a hole in the ozone layer, the soil from productive farmlands is running in the ocean, the climate is warming, etc, etc is really of little concern to you.

I think this is an important frame when considering the environment, other people's impacts and their ability to address these and also how you approach such concepts with other people. If you want to bring awareness of environmental impacts and betterment for future generations to other people of different backgrounds, ethics, wealth, race, country, etc you have to have an awareness of other people's circumstances.

Asking people to buy organic, fair-trade, locally produced food or other goods and services may not be an appropriate way for all people to address their environmental footprint or not meet their relevant circumstances. Perhaps alternative approaches relate to teaching people about soil conservation, appropriate farming techniques, how to address government, working with their systems and circumstances to make a difference. It just might be a different approach to the one that you take in your home, neighbourhood or country but doesn't make it any less worthy.

Obviously there is a bucket load of environmental issues and this concept is likely to be applicable to them all, just perhaps with different approaches (isn't that the key message). Food for thought. Pin It

Fairtrade Fortnight 2011

Currently we are in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight (7-22 May 2011) aimed at bringing awareness about fair trade products and the associated ethics and benefits. This week also recognises the effort and rewards that result out of people in developed countries buying fairtrade products.

You might ask what are fairtrade products?

These are products that assist in providing appropriate work and trade conditions, including fair prices, to producers and associated businesses and families in developing countries. 

What type of fairtrade products are available in Australia?

• coffee
• chocolate
• clothing
• fabrics
• rice
• grains
• tea
• sugar
• oil
• jams & spreads
• herbs & spices

Another useful tip is where to find these products here in Australia. The Fairly Local website has a list of sellers that stock fair-trade products. This is not an exhaustive list, as I have even noted some fair-trade products in the big supermarket chains. So keep your eye out for them. 

There is also additional information available at the Fair Trade Organisation of Australia and New Zealand's website. 

It is important to remember that a little action either during your grocery shopping or becoming aware of the conditions in which your food and clothing are made can result in not only better outcomes and products for you but also great change for people on the other side of the world. 

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Desertification

What is desertification? I have heard the term but really don't know what it means. From my reading it is where dryland used for agriculture and other purposes loses its economic and biological productivity and usually results from climatic variability (change) or unsustainable human practices.

Some of you might now be wondering...'what are drylands'? Well, these are lands that can be productive with limited input from irrigation or natural precipitation. This does not however mean that they are resilient and can remain productive with no or limited rain, it means that they are adapted to a particular level of natural precipitation or human intervention and when this changes they are no longer productive.

I have heard this term mostly associated with Africa and I would like to learn more about the causes of this situation both in Africa and in other locations. Pin It

Climate Change Refugees - Tuvalu

Well in the face of climate change there have been a number of news pieces on climate change refugees. This social injustice intrigued me and I wanted to see whether there was anything I could do as an individual to assist such people. After a little research and reading a book on Tuvalu, which is said to be one of the first island nations to be impacted upon as a result of sea level rise and associated climate change events here are some of my thoughts.

I don't think I am any wiser, but perhaps just a little more educated on my ignorance. From reading the book on Tuvalu it seems that this island isn't actually going to become uninhabitable as a result of sea level rise in the first instance, but rather the inundation of their groundwater by sea water and thus their land becoming inappropriate for the agricultural purposes. Storm events with associated large storm surges are also likely to impact on the margins of the island. All leading to the population of this nation needing to move to other locations.

In the face of this certainty, some Tuvaluans are looking to opportunities outside their nation now rather than waiting for significant events to force their departure from their nation. Many are currently looking to New Zealand for employment opportunities, but those that are unskilled or want to remain in their homes, it is likely that forced migration may be the only option.

Other things that I have learnt from my research and may discuss at a later date on this blog, include:

• some refugee activists, researchers and government bodies do not like the term 'climate change refugee'. Reasons range from the fact that refugee organisations and funding bodies can't cope with the types of refugees that they currently have to deal with without adding more people to this stretched system;
• forced migration rather than climate change refugees is another term which has been used and perhaps is more appropriate without unduly burdening existing systems;
• there are a multitude of attitudes from the people that occupy climate change stricken countries to leaving their nations;
• climate change in regards to sea level rise and associated impacts is likely to affect a significant portion of the world's population, but in majority of cases people that will be impacted upon will be citizens of the third world;
• contributors to climate change impacts are in most cases from first world countries.

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