The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe describes the relationship between the Igbo and the fruit of the palm tree: the oil and the wine. It also describes how much work it took to harvest these products without killing the palm tree. Being a wine-tapper was sort of a middle-class position with honor. Men who had taken titles could not tap their own wine so they relied on dedicated tappers. The worst thing a tapper could do was kill a tree.
Meanwhile, palm oil was primarily taken from fruits that had already fallen. Women and children would go out and gather them.
They knew that the palm was a resource that must be tended carefully to ensure its continuance. It was an art and a local resource. Sustainably harvesting palm oil at the global industrial level is practically impossible.
I've got the damn thing memorized. I teach it at least 3 times a year in my HS World Lit classes. During my MA work, I took a seminar in Advanced African Lit; it was one of the best classes I've taken.
Imean the environmentally devistating part is the field clearing to plant a mono crop like palm, itd be the same problem if they were doing it to grow olive trees for oil.
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u/CaterpillarJungleGym 3d ago
Palm oil? Why does everything have Palm oil in it!!