Perceptions of Palm Oil

Day 8 Visit to Palm Oil Factory

Before GPS, I admit that I was definitely biased, and was 100% for the environmental cause and was pretty much 100% against palm oil. Because wasn't it palm oil monoculture plantations that were the reason for the clearing of most of Indonesia's forests and its loss of biodiversity? Wasn't it palm oil that had caused the many communities in Indonesia to experience droughts, causing them to buy drinking water at exorbitant prices? And isn't it palm oil that finds its way into almost everything we unconsciously consume, from the food we eat to our cosmetic products. 

When speaking to Rio one day when we were trekking out, he told me that he doesn't hate palm oil. Palm oil undoubtedly has its economic benefits, being the biggest industry that contributes to Indonesia's economy, as is also the source of livelihood for many Indonesians. What Rio and Ari stated was that the main problem lies with the issue of illegal and legal palm oil plantations. Illegal palm oil plantations are of an even bigger concern because they encroach onto the the forest, or in the case of where we are, onto the Gunung Leuser National Park (this encroachment due to the blurred boundaries of where the national park lies). Rio and Ari both believe that there must be a good balance between the land used for palm oil plantations and the preservation of Indonesia's rich rainforests. 

(I came across this video of sustainable palm oil practice in Riau, where palm oil plantations are still used, but are not expanded, thus preserving what is already left of the forests)

During our visit to the palm oil factory, we got to see the process of making crude palm oil (extracted from the palm fruit) and kernel oil (extracted from the palm seed) out of the palm oil fruits that were brought in. I could go on about this system, from the process of selection, separating of branch and fruit, pressing for oil, clarification and so on. 

But the point that I want to make about my experience here (and throughout GPS) is not so much about the process or cost of producing palm oil (the cost here not just being economic), but more of what we have to do with palm oil. 

On a trip like this, it is always very easy to instantly look at the community (like the palm oil factory and palm oil plantation farmers) from an external perspective, questioning why they do what they do and its ethics, and the working conditions at the factory (where most factory workers were not wearing much protective gear) and so on. However, what we have to realise is that, just as we are part of the whole ecosystem (as i raised in a previous post), we play a part in the palm oil industry, because we are huge consumers of it, whether we are aware of it or not, and whatever choices we make will affect the web of which we live in. 

During facilitation that night, a lot of us were grappling with how we can help. The suggestion in our minds before GPS was to boycott palm oil and go for better alternatives. During GPS, we realised that simply boycotting palm oil is not a sustainable solution to the problem, since it is the source of livelihood for many farmers. But going a bit beyond that, I was interested in going deeper to where the fundamental issue really lies with all this. Palm oil is a biofuel (though even then, there is some dispute about whether it really is) - an alternative fuel. But what happens when palm oil doesn't work for us? Would that result in the search for a new alternative fuel? I think the issue does not lie in the search for the best fuel or the most environmentally friendly fuel, but really boils down to the issue of consumerism. 

The main reason why there are illegal palm oil plantations and the encroachment of palm oil onto the forests, is really simply because there is an extremely high demand for it, for more palm oil, which comes from us consumers, all over the world. This doesn't apply to palm oil alone, but for every product that we consume. If we want more of something, more of that something will be made: supply and demand (the only economics I know:)

So what do we do from here? 

This experience has actually taught me to be a more aware and conscious consumer, because I think that fundamentally, that's what the palm oil issue is about. After GPS, we can do our part by spreading the word, and educating more people on the issue of palm oil and its encroachment onto Indonesia's forests. But I do know that for a lot of people, the next question is, so what? So what if the orangutans are dying out, and if rainforests in other country are being destroyed, what does it have to do with me? And this is a legitimate question, because, as I've raised in a previous post, it is not enough to learn facts, numbers and statistics unless there is a connection between what you are leaning and yourself. (How am i connected to what I am learning?). Perhaps, because Singapore is such a concrete jungle, where most Singaporeans spend their time in the city areas, it may be especially hard to care for another country's rainforests, because there is this disconnect from nature for a lot of Singaporeans. 

What I think needs to happen is for all of us to be more conscious about what we decide to consume. Do we consume excessively or do we only take what we need? Reducing the amount that we consume, and making conscious, informed decisions of what we consume and choose to endorse will go a long way, I believe. It's a simple act that everyone can do. What I've learnt from the various people that I've met during GPS is the mentality of 'Enough'. A lot of the time, living in the city, there are always exclamations of there not being enough, not enough food, not enough money, not enough time, not enough happiness. Be a more gracious consumer, if you don't really need it, then don't take it. The mentality of 'Enough' is one of the biggest impacts that GPS Sumatra has had on me, and I have carried it all the way back to Singapore and for these past 3 weeks after Sumatra, it's still had an impact on me, influencing the decisions I make, which I will share in the next post:)