UN FLÉAU SI RENTABLES. véritiés et mensonges sur l'huile de palme

Focusing on both health and environmental issues aroused by palm oil, Emmanuelle Grundmann gives us the first thoroughly documented and impartial investigation on this latest "green" gold.

Palm oil is everywhere, distributed by supermarkets around the world, found in an ubiquitous array of agribusiness foods and household products, including cookies, cakes, pastries and powdered milk, condiments, ready-made meals, ice cream and pizzas, cosmetics and soaps... Why? Because of its mechanical and thermal properties that give it a "hold" infinitely more stable than any other vegetable oil, no matter what the temperature. As for its nutritive value? Numerous NGOs and public health agencies have sounded the alarm, repeatedly challenging its high content in saturated fatty acids, synonymous today who have the obesity of consumers with little access to fresh produce. Criticisms don't stop here, however. The oil palm, native to Africa, is being intensively farmed in some of the world's most valuable rainforests, with devastating effects on habitat, biodiversity and indigenous peoples. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Central Africa and Latin America, millions of acres of primary forest have been cleared in favor of sprawling palm oil plantations. Authorized by often corrupt governments, the food industry giants in charge of operations take advantage, what is more, of local cheap labor forces, deprived of their traditional livelihood through rainforest destruction. Yet the issue is virtually taboo, as both "agro" concerns and governments condemn any overly curious journalist who may rub consumers the wrong way and interfere with business. Emmanuelle Grundmann is a biologist, a naturalist and a primatologist. She has published a number of books examining animal and human interaction, including Ces forêts qu'on assassine (2007) and Demain, seuls au monde ? (2010), both of which were published by Calmann-Lévy.