A must-read book. Even if you don’t think you’re interested in palms, you should probably know how crucial a role they play in your life.
Palms boast all the necessary ingredients for a good tale. They are botanically diverse and record breakers, claiming the biggest seed, longest leaf and largest inflorescence of the vegetal world. They play a huge role in both economic and ethno-botany. The date palm, for instance, played a key role in the development of the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East and from here the story unfolds of how the West discovers the palm.
This is all beautifully written and perfectly peppered with good references, photographs and paintings. It’s a pleasure to read, but it wasn’t until I got to palms and capitalism that for me this book became something else.
Palm oil extracted from the species Elaeis guineensis is ubiquitous in everything from oat cakes to lipstick and as many know its relentless monoculture is destroying rainforests, pushing orangutans and countless less charismatic species to the brink of extinction. What this book teaches, in its mannered and careful approach, is that palm oil is in much more than just biscuits and lipstick, it lubricates the modern world and how it got to play that role is carefully laid out. Its production has helped alleviate poverty – the palm oil industry employs an estimated seven million people – yet the consequences of modern production are destroying habitats, endangering rich biodiversity and adversely affecting the lives of many. It’s a sobering read.
The final three chapters shift the story to the role palms play in design, from landscaping and architecture, to decoration and clothing. The palm as a motif is often symbolic of leisure, of opulent exoticism and the remote desert island getaway and yet in reality it is playing a far more destructive role.