The 12th Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam explains the Symptoms of Kali Yuga where it’s written that people believe in a false narrative than getting knowledge using many scenarios. I might be an atheist, but I fully trust the wisdom from these ancient scriptures. We are so filled with the false narrative that it’s difficult to identify the truth. One such story is the Palm Oil outcry by everyone but still used everywhere. Many say Palm Oil is bad, giving many reasons to reject it but still used everywhere. Let me be a devil’s advocate and bring a list of facts, research materials and a little common sense to break the false narrative against Palm Oil.
Palm Oil’s unknown History
The History of Palm Oil stretches back thousands of years, with the oldest record of its use dating from 3,000 BC. In the late 1800s, archaeologists discovered palm oil in a tomb located in Abydos, Egypt. It is believed that the Arab traders brought Palm Oil to Egypt as Medicine. Palm Oil from the time was a cooking oil used in West and Central African countries. Why wasn’t there any single case since then? If you check the history, the British industrial revolution created palm oil demand worldwide, and for over 200 years, the British controlled everything. Until then, Palm Oil was good oil, but when the British left the colonies which had a rich plantations, they started a malicious campaign against it.
Why only Palm Oil? Well! It was not only Palm Oil. Even to this day, almost all the countries in Asia & Africa are considered to be Third-World countries. Now according to the description, Third World usually referred to those who did not participate or take sides during the world war. But is that how Asians and Africans are described these days? Absolutely not. Palm Oil is a wonder crop and it can be grown only if certain weather and soil conditions are met. It doesn’t grow everywhere.
The benefits of Palm Oil are so huge that there is no other oil crop in the world that can match its potential. From cooking oil to products to household items to even bio-diesel, Palm Oil is used across. If Palm Oil gets good remarks then most of Asia and Africa would become superpowers, right? We should all remember how India’s backbone was broken, likewise, Palm Oil is been destroyed.
Palm Oil for Health
As you might know, Palm oil has a high saturated fat content, which can be harmful to cardiovascular health, but is it? We have heard about this many a million times. But why haven’t we heard about anyone dying or having any complications from Palm Oil? The Harvard health studies have shown that palm oil is better than high–trans fat shortenings and probably a better choice than butter/ even coconut. Palm Oil has less saturated fat and contains no trans fat. You can google search Harvard health studies on Palm Oil and study for yourself.
Killing of Orangutan
The cry for orangutans was so loud that everyone started abusing Palm Oil farmers too most of them while eating beef or chicken which was fried in Palm Oil. Those people who don’t feed a hungry dog on the street nor have any care for other animals started talking loud about Orangutans. It’s funny that some of you guys don’t even know how to spell Orangutan. The level of hypocrisy is over the roof. The outcry is so loud that it has shadowed the real story. Digging a little deeper into this, I found out a few facts. The death of the Orangutan was real, and it happens in Indonesia, but Malaysia is the largest exporter of Palm Oil.
The Orangutan is dead, and now Indonesia is also not burning Forrest like how they did years back. But still, there is a backlash, why? The land is free, and they are growing Palm Tree. The poor farmer is working hard to feed his family, why there is hypocrisy towards them? Are they still killing? No! Are the dead Orangutan going to come back alive? No!
Greenpeace & other NGOs
If you remember, India had banned many NGOs, including Greenpeace citing fraud and falsification of data. The main reason for the ban is that Greenpeace was spreading false news about the Kudankulam project. Because this was a joint venture of India and Russia, Greenpeace with the help from the west started attacking the project. There are many such examples to say how some NGOs receive foreign funds to destabilise things, and that is what is happening with Palm Oil. Fake news with the help of fake media, western interests are trying to push their influence over Asia and Africa because they do not want to see us grow.
Palm Oil or specifically the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) has taken many initiatives to conserve the forest, save wild animals as well as educate farmers on how to double their profit by using sustainable methods to produce oil palm. These initiatives come under certification standards and call for the trade-in of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO). The fact is, compared to other major oilseed crops, the cultivation and processing of oil palm require less input of fertilisers, pesticides, and fuel energy to produce one tonne of oil. Palm Oil is a boon to all living things and understanding this might help us destroy all the false narratives against Palm Oil.