How Burger King's Palm Oil Addiction Is Devastating Local Communitiesand Planet Earth

[Judi Lynn]

By Hannah Lownsbrough
March 29, 2017


There’s nothing new about fast food corporations unleashing environmental chaos to maximize their profits. But the recent explosion of palm oil usage is a new threat. Burger King is at the front of the pack of corporations abusing human rights and the environment to satisfy its ever-growing appetite for the oil.

Burger King has always been a corporation defined by its competition. But now it is in danger of becoming the leader in a competition nobody should want to win: fueling the development of rapacious oil palm plantations. Burger King is one of a number of food and drink corporations that rely on palm oil for everything from fry oil to puddings. The recent increase in its use has been exponential: 485 percent in the last decade alone.

A brief review of the human and environmental impacts of palm oil production makes it no surprise that Burger King—like other corporations—has gone to some lengths to avoid disclosing the ways in which it sources its ingredients. Burger King certainly isn’t concealing anything of which it can be proud, and indeed has more to hide than many of its competitors.

Take the human consequences of palm oil production, experienced most acutely in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia where palm oil production is highest. An Amnesty International report has found children as young as eight working in the palm oil industry, and uncovered horrifying stories of forced labor. Other communities report land-grabbing and grossly unfair wages. Farmers responsible for producing palm oil have reporting “bullying” practices from the corporations that buy the oil they produce.

More:
http://www.alternet.org/print/environment/how-burger-kings-palm-oil-addiction-devastating-local-communities-and-planet-earth

[williesgirl]

1. They don't even pay US taxes. Pure evil. I stopped going

There when they pulled the tax stunt.

[sharedvalues]

2. Owned by Bain Capital - Romney's ex-company

Private equity corporations are people --
sociopathic people.

[caroldansen]

3. Why are you picking on Burger King? I love Burger King. They saved hundreds of children's lives

and poor people's lives. I know you're against child labor and who isn't. But you are being totally unfair to Burger King in singling them out when many use products that have employed children. I know for a fact and have seen Burger King save children's lives! I love them. And I always will.

[Judi Lynn]

4. They merged with a Canadian company in order to avoid paying US taxes.

That doesn't seem too decent to me, considering how much money they make from the poor schmuck US taxpayers who buy their products here.