Newsreel: Palm oil

This mock news video introduces the controversy you’ll explore in this course: palm oil. The environmental and societal problems caused by palm oil production are making headlines across the globe as the demand for products containing it increases exponentially. There are many complex problems to resolve with this issue, which you’ll learn more about in later Steps.

You’ll start by being introduced to the tropical crop and exploring why it’s so useful before running through the issues at stake. You’ll discover that although the expansion of palm oil plantations is directly responsible for depriving people of their livelihoods, destroying tropical forests, and damaging natural diversity, boycotting products containing palm oil is not the solution.

In the next Step, you’ll investigate food and household items in your home to see how many products contain palm oil.