Palm Oil, Essay Example

After reading this article, I learned that palm oil is used as an ingredient in many of the products that humans use on a daily basis. Furthermore, it is occasionally difficult to detect when this ingredient is used due to confusing labelling; even all-natural organic products tend to hide the fact that it is being used. Removing palm oil from its natural African environment is detrimental due to the many plants and animals that rely on its existence as a part of their ecosystem. Utilizing palm oil for human use means that it can no longer be used by these organisms, which creates an environmental imbalance, causing many plants and animals to die as a consequence. Orangutans are the most highly impacted by this disturbance and as a consequence, there are only about 60,000 of them remaining in the Borneo and Sumatra wild.

While the article is informative, it fails to provide information concerning what humans can do to avoid using palm oil. First, a specific list of products that should be boycotted would be useful to promote this effort. Second, information should be provided that indicates what could be used in place of palm oil in the many products that we use. If we are unable to identify the presence of this ingredient or determine how to replace it in our goods, we cannot effectively solve the problem that the article introduces.

One chapter 6 vocabulary word that is relevant to anthropology is geography, which is the study of locations. This is relevant to the article because palm oil only grows in tropical regions and the orangutans have become dependent upon it because it exists in their geographic location. A second relevant vocabulary word is extinct, which describes the end of an entire species. This is relevant to the article because the authors are worried that the orangutans will go extinct because they will not be able to access to palm oil.A chapter 7 vocabulary word is frugivore, which is an animal that primarily eats fruit. This is relevant to the article because orangutans are frugivores. An additional vocabulary word is ecology, which is the environment. This is relevant because the orangutans live in a specific environment in which palm oil grows.

A word from the discussion that is relevant to the article is poaching, which is illegally killing animals for their food or fur. Orangutans are considered endangered in part because they are being pouched. Therefore, it is important to protect the small population of these organisms that are remaining. An additional word that is relevant to the article is cognition, which describes the level of understanding and social interactions that organisms have. This is relevant because orangutans need to communicate to survive. We are damaging the environment of an animal that is very closely related to humans. An additional related vocabulary word is the Fox P2 Gene, which allows for speech. Orangutans cannot speak in the same way that humans do, but they can communicate by making sounds and using sign language. Therefore, these organisms are similar to humans in the ways that they communicate and live together. An additional word is ASL, which is American Sign Language. Orangutans can be taught to use sign language to communicate. An anthropoid resembles a human. This is relevant to the article because orangutans are human-like. Another word is dispersal, which means to separate. Orangutan communities have been dispersed by poachers and because of food shortages.A final relevant vocabulary word is Wernicke, which is defined as comprehension. Not only do orangutans communicate with one another, they are able to understand each other as well. Therefore, it is important to protect these intelligent creatures because there is a lot that we could learn from them.