Planet Palm: How Palm Oil Ended Up in Everything--And Endangered the World
- Downloads：1842
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-01 17:31:09
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jocelyn C. Zuckerman
- ISBN：1620975238
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Summary
Over the past few decades， palm oil has seeped into every corner of our lives。 Worldwide， palm oil production has nearly doubled in just the last decade: oil palm plantations now cover an area nearly the size of New Zealand， and some form of the commodity lurks in half the products on U。S。 grocery shelves。 But the palm oil revolution has been built on stolen land and slave labor; it’s swept away cultures and so devastated the landscapes of Southeast Asia that iconic animals now teeter on the brink of extinction。 Fires lit to clear the way for plantations spew carbon emissions to rival those of industrialized nations。
James Beard Award–winning journalist Jocelyn C。 Zuckerman spent years traveling the globe， from Liberia to Indonesia， India to Brazil， reporting on the human and environmental impacts of this poorly understood plant。 The result is Planet Palm， a riveting account blending history， science， politics， and food as seen through the people whose lives have been upended by this hidden ingredient。 This groundbreaking work of first-rate journalism compels us to examine the connections between the choices we make at the grocery store and a planet under siege。
James Beard Award–winning journalist Jocelyn C。 Zuckerman spent years traveling the globe， from Liberia to Indonesia， India to Brazil， reporting on the human and environmental impacts of this poorly understood plant。 The result is Planet Palm， a riveting account blending history， science， politics， and food as seen through the people whose lives have been upended by this hidden ingredient。 This groundbreaking work of first-rate journalism compels us to examine the connections between the choices we make at the grocery store and a planet under siege。
Reviews
Thomas Kelley
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I would give this book three and half stars。 Did you know that palm oil is in many of the products we eat and use。 It is in roughly half of all products in a grocery store。 It makes up one third of all vegetable oil consumed in the world。 It is in toothpaste， soap， shampoo， makeup snack foods and also has many uses in the industrial arena it is even in animal feed。 Its use has exploded 。 As of last year worldwide consumption has amounted to twenty pounds for every person around the world and thi I would give this book three and half stars。 Did you know that palm oil is in many of the products we eat and use。 It is in roughly half of all products in a grocery store。 It makes up one third of all vegetable oil consumed in the world。 It is in toothpaste， soap， shampoo， makeup snack foods and also has many uses in the industrial arena it is even in animal feed。 Its use has exploded 。 As of last year worldwide consumption has amounted to twenty pounds for every person around the world and this stuff is not good for you。 This book is a very detailed history of the cultivation of palm plantations in Africa， Southeast Asia， and Central and South America。 Countries that have few resources who have government or corporations come in buy land dirt cheap destroy the environment especially for those people who live there and try to survive。 The use of slave labor or exploited workers who are paid poor wages and exposed to dangerous working conditions。 This a very informative read。 Thank you to Edelweiss and Ingram Publisher for an ARC for a fair and honest review。 。。。more
Susie
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This is an eye opener of a book， I knew some bits about palm oil， but this blew my mind。 A must read。 Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review。
Ula Tardigrade
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How is it possible that in 21。 century there is a commodity that is so harmful and yet so ubiquitous？ Palm oil is destructive to the natural environment （mostly peat swamps and rain forests and their biodiversity）， to the people who produce it （often as virtual slaves， breathing and touching poisonous chemicals） and live nearby （losing their homes and livelihoods）， and finally to the consumers （who often unknowingly ingest it in copious amounts， detrimental to their health）。 Who benefits？ A hand How is it possible that in 21。 century there is a commodity that is so harmful and yet so ubiquitous？ Palm oil is destructive to the natural environment （mostly peat swamps and rain forests and their biodiversity）， to the people who produce it （often as virtual slaves， breathing and touching poisonous chemicals） and live nearby （losing their homes and livelihoods）， and finally to the consumers （who often unknowingly ingest it in copious amounts， detrimental to their health）。 Who benefits？ A handful of unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt officials。It is a pretty well written and interesting， but above all - important book。 It investigates all of this and more， providing detailed and colorful picture of the oil palm business from colonial history to the present day， and revealing many ugly truths that we， global consumers， don't like to think about。Regarding the critics， I agree that the problem with “eco-colonialism” is real - I think that the expectations of the West， where all old forests were cleared long ago and many native species were led to extinction， towards the developing countries are often hypocritical and unfair， as the author acknowledged in the epilogue。 Nonetheless， it is true that something has to be done for the sake of both local communities and the global environment。 I am not sure activism is a proper solution but it surely helps to build awareness。 Thanks to the publisher， The New Press， and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book。 。。。more
Stephanie
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This book was a little depressing but also very informative。 A good reminder of why consumers need to opt for palm oil-free products on store shelves and why we have to stop voting politicians into office that don't believe the science behind climate change。 The insights the author offered in her epilogue， written during the Covid-19 pandemic was my favourite part of the book。 I found that up until then there hadn't been much emotion infused in the chapters。 Overall I found it to be a little dry This book was a little depressing but also very informative。 A good reminder of why consumers need to opt for palm oil-free products on store shelves and why we have to stop voting politicians into office that don't believe the science behind climate change。 The insights the author offered in her epilogue， written during the Covid-19 pandemic was my favourite part of the book。 I found that up until then there hadn't been much emotion infused in the chapters。 Overall I found it to be a little dry but I still think it's an important read for anyone wanting to learn about the environmental destruction taking place in some very important ecological regions on earth。 。。。more
Patrick Pilz
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Planet Palm is one of those books which rips an important ingredient of our food and energy supply。 It does a pretty good job describing the challenges that come with the significant increase of the supply side， including indentured labor （without using that term） or mono culture and deforestation。 It is one of those books we may have read about Cobalt mines in our electric cars， shrimp sourcing in Bangladesh or the Amazon deforestation to satisfy our beef cravings。While it is well written， it d Planet Palm is one of those books which rips an important ingredient of our food and energy supply。 It does a pretty good job describing the challenges that come with the significant increase of the supply side， including indentured labor （without using that term） or mono culture and deforestation。 It is one of those books we may have read about Cobalt mines in our electric cars， shrimp sourcing in Bangladesh or the Amazon deforestation to satisfy our beef cravings。While it is well written， it does not address the demand side: Why is it that we are using Palm Oil above anything else？ The book describes some of the initiatives that have been taken to label palm oil and mark sustainability as we know if from other labels such as fair trade。 But since it is mostly an ingredient， the packaging would not suffice to provide equal space for all questionable ingredients in products like Nutella。 It is well written， and if you are professionally active in the food supply chain， you may want to consider picking this one up。 For the rest of us， it is just one of those books that makes you feel more miserable when you look at your nutrition and makes you question what is left to eat。 。。。more
Jeff
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