Thread by @majorityfm

#AMQuickie

Palm oil is in just about everything these days.

A major investigation finds it’s not just bad for the environment – it’s produced in conditions tantamount to slavery »»

A new @AP investigation offers the most comprehensive look yet at labor abuses in the palm oil industry.

The AP interviewed more than 130 workers from palm companies who labored on plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Those two countries produce most of the world’s palm oil

Workers spoke of child labor, outright slavery and rape. Fishermen who escaped years of slavery on boats described coming ashore in search of help, but instead being trafficked onto plantations -- sometimes with police involvement » »

Palm oil is virtually impossible to avoid. Often hidden amid a list of scientific names on labels, it can be found in roughly half the products on supermarket shelves. It’s in paints, plywood, pesticides and pills.

It’s also present in animal feed, biofuels, hand sanitizer, baby formula, non-dairy creamers, Jif Natural peanut butter and Kit Kat candy bars.

It’s equally useful in a host of cleansers and makeup products, as well as toothpaste and lipstick.

One Burmese worker told the AP that when Americans see palm oil is listed as an ingredient in their snacks, they should know, "It’s the same as consuming our sweat and blood."

The AP traced the exploited laborers’ palm oil to the supply chains of top Western companies like the makers of Oreo cookies, Lysol cleaners and Hershey’s chocolate treats.

Giant financial institutions like Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon, Citigroup, HSBC and the Vanguard Group have invested in the crop, which has soared from just five million tons in 1999 to seventy two million today.

The US alone has seen a 900% spike in demand during that same time.

Gemma Tillack of the Rainforest Action Network told the AP, "The buck stops with the banks. It is their funding that makes this system of exploitation possible."

So: It’s time for a new divestment campaign.