Palm Oil and the Desperate Housewives

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by: Palm Hugger
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Word Count: 926
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 Time: 9:32 AM
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I often take a moment as I wait at our supermarket checkout stand to scan the covers of the magazines displayed there. It seems that most of the magazines, if they are not preoccupied with sex and money they're about diet, fitness and outward beauty. Magazines abound with titles such as Shape, Muscle Mag, Allure, Glamour, Marie Caire or Elle with headlines such as "Sex and the City" and "Desperate Housewives"! It appears that people are fixated on the superficial such as beauty of face or form as if there is all there is. This unfortunately, can lead to unrealistic comparison and terrible despair.

In the same way, green groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth (FOE) appear to be fixated on the superficial when they take aim at palm oil through their palm oil campaigns. Dressed in silly orang utan suits, they scale the walls of factories and abseil down into meeting rooms of multinational such as Nestle, loudly proclaiming that palm oil is responsible for deforestation, global warming and the near extinction of the orang utan.

There is responsible activism and there is irresponsible activism. Ignored in this cacophonous staging of these propagandist extravaganzas for the benefit of an eager media lapping up the "lie-a-minute" reports dished out at these media events by the self appointed guardians of all that is wrong with the world is the damage wrought on food prices by their irresponsible actions.

As things stand, the La Niña weather phenomenon is already causing drought in key growing areas of and food supply stress in Argentina, Brazil and the US may intensify. The same phenomenon causes an abundance of rain in the food growing parts of the world as in the extensive flooding now being experienced in Northern Australia and in some areas of Asia, especially South East Asia which has contributed to soaring palm oil prices.

According to Businessweek, there is an added pressure on food prices in recovering economies. Ephraim Leibtag, US Agriculture Dept. food price forecaster told BusinessWeek: "Increased global trade coming out of the recession, some increased consumer demand, and higher energy and commodity costs for food production" will boost prices. The USDA expects a rise in oil prices to lift demand for ethanol by 5.1 percent in the U.S., which will affect corn prices. The agency foresees U.S. food inflation of 2 percent to 3 percent, the highest since 2008.

The FAO does not see demand falling. "Consumers may have little choice but to pay higher prices," it says in its November price outlook. The good news, the FAO official pointed out, is that thus far, we are seeing relatively stable prices for rice, one of the two most important agricultural commodities for global food security. Rice is the staple for more than three billion people in Asia and Africa. It hit an all time high of more than $1,000 per ton in 2008, a situation we have been accused of instigating. But rice is now trading at $535 a ton.

The NFA last week said we have more than 40 days buffer stock of rice or about 10 days more than the required 30 days. We have not yet moved to buy rice from the international market as the agriculture department indicated that we will most likely import less than half of what was imported last year. But with other countries already in the market, there are also fears that we may be left out unless we go to the market soon.

The Financial Times reported that in the case of wheat, the cost is fast rising because of poor harvests last year in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere. The prices of corn, used for poultry and livestock feed, are also fast rising and could soon be reflected in the prices of meat and poultry products.

There are so many factors that influence the prices of agricultural food commodities these days. These commodities are affected by currency movements and financial markets as well as agricultural and trade policies of governments and the actions of NGOs such as Greenpeace and FOE.

It isn't just the developing world that's worried. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has identified food price volatility as a priority as France assumes the chair of the Group of 20 leading economies this year. World Bank President Robert Zoellick cited food price volatility as a threat to global growth and social stability in an op-ed piece at the Financial Times. This is because, Zoellick wrote, food accounts for a large share of tight family budgets in the poorest countries.

"When prices of staples soar, the poor bear the brunt. Without global action, people in poor countries will be deprived of adequate and nutritious food, with tragic consequences for individuals and for the future prosperity of their countries," Zoellick warned. The overarching goal, the World Bank President urged the G-20, is to ensure that the most vulnerable people and countries are not denied access to nutritious food." It is clear that palm oil, which is consumed in much of the developing world is an important part of the food chain and source of nutrition in that part of the world.

In the view of Palmhugger.org, until green groups like Greenpeace and FOE change tack and stop focusing on the superficial but to, instead, pursue policies of responsible activism, it is inevitable that their irresponsible actions will contribute to an already acute and grave world food supply situation! THE END.

About the Author

Palm Hugger is a palm oil advocacy site that makes no apologies for exposing the lies, untruths and equivocations on palm oil spewed by a coterie of environmental morons against the world's most sustainable edible oil and biofuel feedstock. We are part of a collective group of palm oil sympathizers that have grown tired of the blatant untruths, spin, lies and unfair trade bloc promoting activities of green NGOs like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth (FOE) against palm oil.