Palm Oil: with Catherine Laurence, Eric Lambin, Orangutan rescuer Daniek Hendarto, RSPO SG Darrel Webber
Palm Oil
Palm oil is everywhere – from cooking oil to soap to vegan margarine. Equatorial rainforest and peatland are cleared and replaced with serried ranks of oil palm trees (Elaeis guineensis). The biodiversity of Borneo and Sumatra, including the iconic Orang Utan, is threatened by habitat loss.
Some vegan activists say no product that causes so much destruction can be considered vegan. But is palm oil really worse than the alternatives? And can poor countries like Malaysia and Indonesia develop without it?
Environmentalist Catherine Laurence helps me disentangle the thicket of issues.
Hear academic experts Eric Lambin and Robert Greenland; vegan baker Ms Cupcake; primatologist Georgina Ash; vegan MP Kerry McCarthy; the boss of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil; and vegan Indonesian palm oil activist and Miskin Porno lead singer Daniek Hendarto.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/110218569″ params=”show_comments=true&color=155C06&theme_color=BED3BA” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Play or download (38.3MB MP3) (via iTunes)