That the use of palm oil is in healthy and isn't benifical

As Jess defined, I will be arguing that palm oil is healthy to consume and is beneficial to society in general. My current response in this round will take the form of a rebuttal to some of Jess"s points as well as grounds for laying out new points. I hope to have a great debate and wish Jess the best of luck. I would like to start with the rebuttal phase first. Jess makes a point regarding deforestation and its effects on wildlife. While the expansion of society may encroach on the natural bonds of rainforests, there are many millions of acres of rainforests that have not been touched by mankind (Sumathi, Chai, & Mohamed, 2008). Consequently, the expansion of society into rainforests is relatively minimal when one considers the vast expanse of rainforest that remains untouched by mankind. The local habitats of wildlife such as orangutans may be affected; however, according to Darwin"s theory of evolution (survival of the fittest), life forms will constantly adapt to survive. While the current populations may have declined, it is reasonably safe to say that they will expand again based on the Darwin theory. Of deforestation operations, palm oil operations generally are better for the environment because they actually replace rainforest with palm trees. Unlike mineral prospecting and the lumber trade, palm oil plantations do not destroy the forest and leave. They actually replace the forest with other vegetation (Chuen & Yusoff, 2012). Jess raised an interesting point about erosion, saying, "Deforestation removes this important structure, allowing heavy rains to wash away nutrient-rich soil" (Hartley, Round 1). However, this issue is not a deforestation issue. This issue is an agricultural issue. Every agricultural operation must employ proper farming methods to ensure that it preserves the valuable soil that it is dependent on for success. Erosion after deforestation is an agricultural issue in the case of palm oil plantations. Consequently, palm oil operations are no different than any other agricultural operation. Palm oil farmers must be educated on how to employ sustainable farming practices. Jess also states the following: "New plantations can also create social conflicts if the rights and livelihoods of local communities are ignored. Not only can this cause negative external impacts but it can also affect the companies involved, and hamper the ability of the companies to expand as planned" (Hartley, Round 1). Once again, this is not an issue that is limited to palm oil operations. This is a business problem. Every company that expands into a new environment must exercise social responsibility to avoid impacting the rights of local communities (Sumathi, et. al. , 2008). Consequently, it is every organization"s responsibility to conduct a thorough and impartial analysis of their desired theatre of operations before moving in. After moving in, they are responsible to adapt their operations in order to avoid infringing on the natural rights of the local communities. I have concluded the rebuttal phase of my argument for this round. I would like to thank Jess for raising some interesting and pertinent points. I shall now move on in order to present some new arguments for consideration in the next round. While palm oil is primarily being used in Western societies such as the United States for food uses, it is also being employed for a variety of reasons in Eastern societies such as Malaysia and Indonesia to develop sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels (Sumathi, et. al. , 2008, p. 2411-2412). This bio-diesel initiative has led to use of palm oil to replace many petroleum-based fuels. Research has discovered that palm oil burns cleaner and gives off emissions that are less harmful to the environment (Sumathi, et. al. , 2008). After significant research, Malaysia announced an Envodiesel initiative that blended bio-diesel with petrodiesel, increasing the efficiency of both while minimizing the environmental impacts. With the recent health craze in the United States, researches linked dietary fats to cardiovascular diseases (Edem, 2002). Consequently, food manufacturers began to look for sustainable, healthy alternatives. While palm oil contains 50% percent saturated fatty acids, it also contains a high amount of antioxidants, which do not promote common heart conditions such as atherosclerosis and arterial thrombosis (Edem, 2002). Many researchers tried to discredit the benefits of palm oil, pointing to the fact that it does induce a higher blood cholesterol level than corn, soybean, and sunflower oils. However, palm oil does cause the endogenous cholestrol level to drop (Edem, 2002). Further research proved that endogenous cholestrol is responsible for the majority of heart problems. While this is the only certain effect of palm oil, scientists also believe that it helps to protect against vitamin A defiency and certain forms of cancer (Edem, 2002). On the strength of this information, I maintain that palm oil is beneficial to human consumption and it has a positive environmental impact through the reduction of the CO2 emissions that plague our automobiles today. I recognize the points that Jess made regarding the social impact that palm oil operations can have. However, I maintain that these are "people" problems. How palm oil companies treat local communities is not more or less of a problem than how a logging company would treat a local community. Therefore, social problems cannot be linked directly to the production of palm oil because every industry has its good and bad operations. As a society, it is our duty to praise the good and reprove the bad. I thank Jess once again for furnishing pertinent and interesting points to the debate and I look forward to hearing his second round arguments. I also would appreciate any feedback that anyone would wish to provide in the comments. References Chuen, O. , & Yusoff, S. (2012). Benefits of clean development mechanism application on the life cycle assessment perspective: A case study in the palm oil industry. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 62(3), 299-306. Retrieved from . http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu... Edem, D. (2002). Palm oil: Biochemical, physiological, nutritional, hematological, and toxicological aspects: A Review. Plant Foods For Human Nutrition, 57(3), 319-341. Retrieved from . http://download.springer.com... Sumathi, S. , Chai, S. , & Mohamed, A. (2008). Utilization of oil palm as a source of renewable energy in Malaysia. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 12(9), 2404-2421. Retrieved from . http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu...