GeoMag

L AY E R S O F A C A K E

TAS PANAYIDES

LAYERS OF A CAKE A DELICACY OR A KILLER?

Ingredients list for your chocolate cake: 200g white sugar - (decline in soil fertility, destruction of habitats, eutrophication) ½ tsp vanilla extract - (high food miles, carbon dioxide emissions) Palm oil - (deforestation, biodiversity reductions, methane emissions) 200g butter 2 eggs Self raising flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp milk 2 tsp cocoa powder

Here in the UK, we all reap the benefits of a globalised world, a world where the UK has access to produce from all four corners of the Earth. Having this liberty is a blessing for your average British consumer, but a potential killer for the environment that we depend on. For example, cakes are a commodity that are widely enjoyed in the UK. In 2018/2019, an average of 151 grams of cakes, buns and pastries were consumed per person, per week in UK households. The construction and baking of a cake is a complex process, involving many different layers and different ingredients to constitute each layer. These ingredients come from as near as your local farm, and as far as the distant shores of Indonesia, 11,770 kilometres away. Present in almost all store-bought cakes is palm oil- a product that is exceedingly detrimental to the environment. Since palm oil has a high oxidative stability, it improves the shelf life of cake and helps to improve the texture of the sponge by making it softer and moist. In 2020, Indonesia exported 7.17 million tonnes of palm oil- most of which was exported to India, China, and the European Union. The fact that palm oil produces a yield that is eight times higher than sunflower oil, has fostered the destruction of 25% of Indonesia’s rainforests to be replaced by vast palm oil plantations. In these man-made monocultures, wildlife cannot

54 | Geographical Magazine • Merchant Taylors’ School

2021/22 Edition | 55