How Palm Oil Became The World’s Most Hated, Most Used Fat Source

Palm oil is known internationally as our most despised crop. It’s low cost, causes controversies anywhere you bring it up, and is pretty much a major reason for deforestation all over the world. It’s hard to find products that palm oil isn’t in — from food and makeup to soap and even ink, palm oil is everywhere.

But despite being boycotted by many activist groups, it is still one of the most used ingredients — over 73 million tons a year, to be precise. Why, you ask? Because of its low price and value — the African oil palm can produce a whopping 10 times more oil than soybeans and other veggie oils can.

What is palm oil?

Palm oil is the edible vegetable oil that comes from oil palm trees and their fruit. This tree produces two kinds of oil: crude palm oil, which is derived from the flesh, and palm kern oil, which is a result of crushing the pit in the middle. However, even though palm oil is in nearly 50% of what we find in grocery stores today, using it is highly problematic and controversial.