Why I HATE Palm Oil

Union of Concerned Scientists- Palm Oil Plea
It is really hard to describe how I feel about palm oil.  There do not seem to be appropriate adjectives for my utter disgust and disdain for this horrific product.  Palm oil to me is the embodiment of all that is horrible about man's disregard for nature.  Palm oil itself is an incredible substance that makes food taste great and a good source for biofuel, it enables mega-corporations to reap massive profits and hook the public on a new source of addictive fat.  The bottom line is that we have sold out Mother Nature and some of Earth's most magnificent forests and creatures so that we can have margarine that is solid at room temperature and cookies that have a rich, moist fat that is cheap.  Are all of our ethics for sale to our taste buds?
    The important thing to remember in this epic fat struggle is that it was not always this way.  Prior to WWII, lard was the saturated fat of choice.  If you study the nutritional analysis, you will find that lard has a lot of positive nutritional qualities and if eaten in moderation, as with all fats, can be part of a healthy diet.  During WWII, lard was commandeered by governments for the manufacture of glycerin for munitions and became so expensive that an alternative- hydrogenated vegetable oil was born.  Really it was the combination of history, food science, and 1970's diet fads that discredited lard and promoted Crisco and oleo margarine type products instead.  (McDonalds used to fry their french fries in lard until the late 70's!)  Enter the 21st century, when it is discovered that hydrogenated oils lead to the formation of free radicals in the body, so called "trans fats" are bad for you.  Another hysteria ensues and trans fats are banned.  What replaces them?  Palm oil.  True palm oil is not a trans fat, it is a saturated fat, plant lard, I like to call it.  This is the kind of fat that clogs your arteries and gives you heart disease, but I guess that's okay.  At the end of the day, my hope is that we can return to our traditional lard, butter and old time fats, which we produce anyway and we know their ills, and renounce palm oil altogether.  THE ONLY WAY this can happen, is an educated consumer outright rejecting this "blood" oil and a decision on the part of the public to hold corporations accountable for their impact  on the environment globally. What will you decide?    Here endeth the lesson.