<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'>; <html><head><title>Article Directory Online : Free Online Article Submission - Articleonlinedirectory | Palm Oil - It's Not All About You</title></head><body><h3>Palm Oil - It's Not All About You</h3><br /><br />By: <br /><br /><p>Sustainability is the business buzz-word du jour for those companies that use palm oil. The biggest names in food, drink and toiletries are trumpeting their policies, be they plans to buy certified sustainable material in the next few years or an all-out boycott of the oil itself.<br /> <br /> They can't afford not to, as the palm oil industry in Malaysia and Indonesia stands accused of clearing rain forest, creating high CO2 emissions and removing the homes of endangered species such as orang-utans. Companies are responding to pressure from campaigners and consumers.<br /> <br /> It's a laudable stance and it makes a cute Tweet. But if anyone tries to tell you stopping, reducing or cleaning up Europe's supply of palm oil will solve the problem, they are misleading you. The issues in Malaysia and Indonesia will still continue.<br /> <br /> First of all, the palm oil industry provides an income for over a million people in Malaysia and Indonesia, so to lose it would be a huge economic blow. And more than two-fifths of the plantations are owned by smallholders whose output is consumed locally, rather than major companies who export their product.<br /> <br /> Secondly, reducing Europe's consumption of palm oil from those areas will have no impact, as the shortfall will simply be absorbed by the vast consumption of markets such as India and China.<br /> <br /> The third point is that demanding sustainable palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia gives producers an incentive to invest in responsible practices and the audits and certification to prove it. Shun them, and the cost and effort of working sustainably will no longer be worthwhile.<br /> <br /> Fourthly, the issue is not palm oil, but the way it is produced. Oil palms grow faster, have a far higher yield and require 10 times less land than any other crop. A cheap, high-yielding crop is crucial for feeding the world's growing population, so if we stopped all palm oil production, we'd see the same problems but on a greater scale as slower, less productive crops were grown to replace it.<br /> <br /> 8. The point is this: the palm oil problem is not about you. It's not about headlines, image or policy statements. It's not about saving the orang-utan by boycotting chocolate with palm oil in it. It's about tackling the problems and playing a part in making ethical, sustainable production the norm.<br /> <br /> It's easy to grab plaudits by boycotting palm oil or buying it from a country not associated with the problems. But don't forget that if you shun Malaysia and Indonesia, you turn your back on the orang-utan, the rain forests and the people whose lives depend on palm oil.</p> <br /><br /><b>Author Resource:-></b> To find out more on <a href=http://www.greenpalm.org>sustainable palm oil</a>, visit the <a href=http://www.greenpalm.org/about-palm-oil/what-is-sustainable-palm-oil>GreenPalm</a> site on sustainable palm oil and see how you can back sustainable production.<br /><br /><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/'>Article Directory Online : Free Online Article Submission - Articleonlinedirectory</a><br /></body></html>
