A palm oil horror story

The TLDR: Most woke folks know that palm oil is bad for the environment and for your health. A shocking Associated Press investigation has now revealed global palm oil’s real dirty secret: the sexual exploitation of women in the plantations of Malaysia and Indonesia. Oh, and the biggest consumer of palm oil: India. It is in almost everything you eat—and in almost every beauty product you use.

[Trigger warning: This story focuses on sexual violence.]

Basic deets

• Palm oil consumption has increased with dizzying speed, and production has risen to keep pace. Between 1980 to 2015, global production of the oil increased from 5 million to more than 62 million metric tons.
• Indonesia and Malaysia account for over 82% of world palm oil production.
• We are the world’s biggest palm oil importer in the world, constituting 20% of all global trade.
• And 70% of our palm oil comes from Indonesia, the rest from Malaysia.
• 90% of the palm oil is consumed in the form of cooking oil. Around 10% ends up in processed foods and cosmetics.
• Palm oil constitutes 65% of all edible oils consumed in India.

Palm oil’s dirty secret

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