Palm Sugar, Palm Oil, Palm ?

Workers unload trucks of harvested oil palm fruit at the PT Perkebunan Nusantara plantation and production factory in Kertajaya, Banten Province, Indonesia, on Monday, June 20, 2011. PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII is a state-owned palm fruit plantation and palm oil factory. Photo Credit: Dadang Tri/Bloomberg/Getty Images

A casual line in a t.v. series we're watching suggested palm sugar is a problem in the world. It's not. Palm OIL most definitely is. Did you know? Palm oil surpasses soy oil production worldwide, and most of it (~90%!) comes solely from rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia.

It's challenging being a conscientious consumer. One has to scrutinize labels on food products (not to mention cosmetics and shampoos/soaps, etc.), and be able to decipher the varying names and chemical states that palm oil and palm kernel oil hide under. But, palm oil consumption is having a staggering effect on rainforests and wildlife--orangutans especially; I'll take peace of mind over time-consuming shopping any day.

'Orangutan Foundation International Australia' has excellent info on how to determine palm oil content when it's hidden under the guise of "vegetable oil": https://orangutanfoundation.org.au/palm-oil/

This photograph, taken on February 24, 2014 during an aerial survey mission by Greenpeace at East Kotawaringin district in Central Kalimantan province on Indonesia's Borneo Island, shows cleared trees in a forest located in the concession of Karya Makmur Abadi which is being developed for a palm oil plantation. Environmental group Greenpeace on February 26 accused US consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble of responsibility for the destruction of Indonesian rainforests and the habitat of endangered orangutans and tigers. Photo credit: Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images