Palm oil is an ingredient in so many processed foods and much of it comes from Indonesia. The ecological damage it is causing, the health damage to the people of Indonesia and of the residents of nearby countries many miles away (caused by illegal slash burning of millions of acres of what were pristine rain forests containing mature kratom trees), and the death of endangered wildlife (such as the orangutans) are all negatives. This we know.
No-one needs palm oil. As I recall from previous reading, it is an unhealthy ingredient, so there is no human need for this. It is just cheap, useful for creating a pleasant "mouth-feel" to all sorts of processed foods, and can be sourced from a dirt-poor country with little control over environmental use of its national forests -- and a perfect opportunity for corruption of officials.
It occurs to me that our Congress may also be subject to lobbying by the multinational industries that profit from keeping this cheap, unhealthy food ingredient plentiful for them.
It would be very interesting for an economist to do a study of which product is more beneficial for the poor rural residents living in these Indonesian rain forests. From what I've read, kratom production would seem to win out for the little "farmers" and harvesters easily.
The environment also wins from a sustainable product that has a relatively high value for the workers and all levels of the kratom supply chain, while still providing a remarkably affordable supplement which is helping improve the health of millions of Americans, despite the lying spin the FDA puts on the issue.
The U.S. Congress is a magnet for both those who want to make decisions wisely to benefit all the people and the environment, even in far-off lands, but there are also those who are tempted by the huge money that can be made by steering policy in the direction of making astounding amounts of profit at great cost to our global economy, environment, and the people who do the work.
This brief video, featuring Harrison Ford, gives another dimension of the kratom story that we should be aware of.
We have a very important vote coming up in the U.S. Senate this coming week. Those who want to see kratom kept legal and available need to call their Senators and send them emails to remind them of our wishes.
We need to encourage our lawmakers to do things for all the right reasons, taking all the factors into consideration. Kratom, on the whole, is a good thing; more palm oil is nothing we need. A healthy, smoke-free environment, supported by sustainable crops (like kratom, which actually is helping fight the opioid epidemic) is something that all people should have.
Please encourage your Senators to do the right thing for the most people, not the thing that profits the palm oil industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the U.S. for-profit prison industry.