Why should you switch to cold-pressed oils?
“It’s good for your heart,” pat comes the reply. But is it all? Bayaluseeme tries answering it from various angles.
Health-wise
Cold-pressed oils are no doubt healthier alternatives to the conventional, refined, bulk-produced, saturated, industrial oils. (More on refined oils, their nature, history & process – https://chriskresser.com/how-industrial-seed-oils-are-making-us-sick/).
Firstly, authentic cold-pressed oils do not contain chemical extracts, additives and preservatives. Secondly, they are processed in a way that doesn’t heat up the oil seeds, conserving nutrients to the maximum extent.
Socially
Cold-pressed oils are mostly being produced within the country and mainly by small producers. This is not only creating employment and supporting farmers locally, it is also connecting community through the medium of ‘food’ which is basic and common to all.
Economically
We currently depend on other countries for more than 60% of our edible oil consumption and India is one of the largest importer of edible oils in the world. Consumption of cold-pressed oils produced locally would gradually bring down the pressure on the import. It also prevents edible oil travelling long distances cutting down on shipping costs and carbon emissions.
Environmentally
Majority of the oil we import is (palm oil) from Indonesia. Almost all the chemically processed oils, confectioneries, chocolates and canned supermarket food items contain palm oil in them as it is cheaper, colourless and odourless.
It’s now a well-known fact that several Indonesian rain forests were destroyed to make way for palm plantations. But once the biodiverse rain forests disappeared, so did the orang-utans and other wildlife that had made these rainforests their home. Now, when you scan through the photographs of these landscapes, only palm trees stand one next to another monochromatically without enough ‘life’ in its ecosystem.
With irreversible loss of biodiversity and habitat, there is also another concern – ground water depletion – as palms are extremely water guzzling trees. No doubt, Sri Lankan government has declared a complete ban on palm oil import recently for the above mentioned reasons and to discourage planting palms as they have also become invasive. (More on Sri Lankan ban on palm oil import – https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/sri-lanka-to-ban-palm-oil-imports-raze-plantations-over-environmental-concerns/)
Learning from our neighbor, isn’t it time we re-examine the palm plantation policy to be implemented in the Deccan and the North-east region?
Therefore, for all the reasons mentioned above, if you choose to buy a locally produced (authentic) cold-pressed oil, you will probably stop harming your body, contributing to a number of farmer families, women in distress, small entrepreneurs and preventing deforestation, biodiversity loss and habitat extinction somewhere on the earth for sure.
Bayaluseeme
Bringing stories that connect what you eat to your health, environment & culture.