As food increasingly becomes a global commodity a whole host of new ethical and political problems attach themselves to it.  Think of it perhaps as another set of ingredients which should be printed on the packaging but usually isn’t.  That’s because if we really knew about the origins of everything presented to us at the Supermarket we’d steer well clear of quite a lot of it. These cathedrals of choice on our doorsteps often have a lot to answer for on this front.

Palm oil is a great example. I’d never heard of it until environmental pressure groups began telling us how much rainforest was being destroyed and replaced with a monoculture of palms to produce this cheap oil.  To read a bit more about the damage it does to already endangered species and threatened habitats have a look at this article from the independent.

The jar above is available a Supermarket near you, and it will probably be the cheapest oil on the shelf, which is probably why its also present in a huge amount of processed foods.  Tons of the stuff is sitting on the shelves of ASDA, Sainsbury and the like waiting to be bought right now. Apparently the vast majority of it is not classified as from sustainable sources.

Finally, if that doesn’t put you off, have  a look at this powerful short clip from Greenpeace.  I’ve been lucky enough to see Orang-utans in the wilds of Indonesia, and the amazing rainforest habitat they live in. It really saddens me that all this can be put at risk of extinction, just so we can buy cheap (and unhealthy) cooking oil and processed foods.

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

If you want to see how deforestation is changing the face places like Sumatra Indonesia, have a look at this picture. It was probably taken a couple of years back so the situation will be a lot worse by now!

We can all do our bit by avoiding anything containing  this oil, at least until it can be guaranteed that it is from sustainable sources. Our Supermarkets once again put profit before responsibility.