© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Your Call

US Bans Two Palm Oil Giants After AP Investigations Tie Exploitation To Top Brands

Women fill sacks with fertilizer to be spread in a palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia, Nov. 14, 2017.
AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara

On this edition of Your Call, we rebroadcast our update on the AP investigations that exposed widespread human rights abuses, including rape, slavery, and child labor, in the multibillion-dollar palm oil industry.

The investigation revealed that a large number of children in Indonesia and Malaysia are being kept out of school, forced to work for free or little pay, and are often exposed to dangerous chemicals to make palm oil.

Guests:

Margie Mason, medical and investigative reporter for The Associated Press

Robin McDowell, investigative Reporter for the Associated Press

Web Resources:

AP: US bans second Malaysian palm oil giant over forced labor

AP: Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies

AP: Rape, abuses in palm oil fields linked to top beauty brands

AP: Palm oil labor abuses linked to world’s top brands, banks

Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.
Malihe Razazan is the senior producer of KALW's daily call-in program, Your Call.