In the third and final episode of China Dialogue's podcast series, Palm Oil Frontiers, Gayathri Vaidyanathan takes to the streets of Chennai in southern India to find out how much people know about palm oil.

India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil, and the second largest consumer after Indonesia. The commodity is widely used as a cooking oil in restaurants (especially at the street- and fast-food end of the industry) and low-income households, as well as in the production of processed foods. Despite its prevalence, however, many people in India are unaware of its presence, let alone the environmental damage the expansion of oil palm plantations in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia has caused. This lack of awareness means there’s very little market pressure to purchase palm oil from sustainable sources. Indeed, only 2% of India’s palm oil is sustainably produced, according to an internal estimate by the Sustainable Palm Oil Coalition of India. What can be done to change this? Do consumers really have an important role to play, or should the onus be on government and industry? And what has India’s increasing problem with health issues such as diabetes and obesity got to do with it?

For more: https://chinadialogue.net/en/tag/palm-oil/

Credits:

Producer and host: Gayathri Vaidyanathan

Commissioning editor: Lizi Hesling

Sound design: Alyssa Moxley

Research: Gayathri Vaidyanathan, RK Srividya

Art work: Nahal Sheikh

Thanks to: Josie Phillips, Jessica Aldred

Music:

“Uncertain Ground” by Blue Dot Sessions
Source: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/120215
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

“The Telling” by Blue Dot Sessions
Source: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/124670 Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

“Hermes Gray” by Blue Dot Sessions
Source: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/114852
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

“Evidence Room” by Blue Dot Sessions
Source: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/124259
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

“Di Breun” by Blue Dot Sessions
Source: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/120522
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/