Robin McDowell And Margie Mason December 28, 2020 - 9:29 PM
They are two young girls from two very different worlds, linked by a global industry that exploits an army of children.
Olivia Chaffin, a Girl Scout in rural Tennessee, was a top cookie seller in her troop when she first heard rainforests were being destroyed to make way for ever-expanding palm oil plantations. On one of those plantations a continent away, 10-year-old Ima helped harvest the fruit that makes its way into a dizzying array of products sold by leading Western food and cosmetics brands.
Ima is among the estimated tens of thousands of children often working alongside their parents in Indonesia and Malaysia, which supply 85% of the worldâs most consumed vegetable oil. An Associated Press investigation found most earn little or no pay and are routinely exposed to toxic chemicals and other hazardous conditions. Some never go to school or learn to read and write. Others are smuggl
Child labour in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies
by Robin McDowell And Margie Mason, The Associated Press
Posted Dec 29, 2020 12:29 am EDT
Last Updated Dec 29, 2020 at 12:44 am EDT
They are two young girls from two very different worlds, linked by a global industry that exploits an army of children.
Olivia Chaffin, a Girl Scout in rural Tennessee, was a top cookie seller in her troop when she first heard rainforests were being destroyed to make way for ever-expanding palm oil plantations. On one of those plantations a continent away, 10-year-old Ima helped harvest the fruit that makes its way into a dizzying array of products sold by leading Western food and cosmetics brands.
[1] published Nov. 24, 2020, reporters for the Associated Press detailed accounts from women working in palm oil fields of their experiences being abused, sexually assaulted and held against their will. Palm oil is a key ingredient in millions of products sold around the world:
“Palm oil is found in everything from potato chips and pills to pet food, and also ends up in the supply chains of some of the biggest names in the [USD 530] billion beauty business, including L’Oréal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Avon and Johnson & Johnson, helping women around the world feel pampered and beautiful.”
The Nov. 24 report is part of a larger series
52:00
On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, we’re rebroadcasting our conversation about two recent AP investigations exposing widespread labor and human rights abuses.
These abuses include rape, slavery, and child labor, in the palm oil industry, which is worth a whopping $65 billion. The investigation found that millions of men, women and children from some of the poorest corners of Asia are exploited and forced into working on palm oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Women workers make just $2 a day with no job protections or healthcare.
Palm oil is in food and personal care products from some of the world s largest brands, including L Oreal, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate, which owns Tom s of Maine. What will it take to protect these workers and regulate this industry?
52:00
On this edition of Your Call, we rebroadcast our discussion of two recent AP investigations exposing widespread labor and human rights abuses, including rape, slavery, and child labor, in the palm oil industry, which is worth a whopping $65 billion.
The investigation found that millions of men, women and children from some of the poorest corners of Asia are exploited and forced into working on palm oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Women workers make just $2 a day with no job protections or healthcare.
Palm oil is in food and personal care products from some of the world s largest brands, including L Oreal, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate, which owns Tom s of Maine. What will it take to protect these workers and regulate this industry?