| These people are idiots | |
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(1), of "Junk Science" web fame, is a former tobacco industry
lobbyist as well as a former executive director of TASSC, a front
organisation created by tobacco giant Philip Morris. The Competitive
Enterprise Institute (4) and Consumer Alert (5) are also recipients of
Big Tobacco funding.
is, of course, son of Dennis T. Avery, both of the
biotech-industry funded Hudson Institute (donors include: AgrEvo, Dow
AgroSciences, Monsanto, Novartis, Zeneca) and both at the heart of the
attacks on organic agriculture.
The American Council on Science and Health (2) also has big
agro-chemical funding (eg Monsanto, Dow, Cyanamid) and controversy has
raged throughout ACSH's over twenty-year history over the linkage
between its extensive
corporate backing and Whelan's (2) tireless crusading against
"health
scares" and the "toxic terrorists" who promote them.
Finally, The National Center for Public Policy Research (6) is perhaps
the most curious 'consumer group' of them all, having been formed in the
1980s to support Reagan's military adventures in Central America! Its
projects include Project 21 funded by R.J. Reynolds while a 1995 memo
from a Philip Morris staffer describes the NCPPR president as "a willing
ally"!
All in all, just the kind of folk you would trust on HEALTH, SCIENCE,
and CONSUMER ISSUES
Monsanto's rBGH (aka BST) is banned throughout the EU and in Canada.
Pics of pro-corporate demonstrators with 'organic bad for the
environment' etc. can be seen protesting at Starbuck's decision at:
http://y42.photos.yahoo.com/bc/ol_fenian/lst?&.dir=/Starbucks&.src=ph&.view=
t
On the Starbucks campaign see an excellent article at:
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/03/03202001/starbucks_42594.asp
On their decision: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010316/bs/starbucks_hormones_1.html
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http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0320-139.html
Consumer Groups Protest Starbucks Decision on Milk
U.S. Newswire
20 Mar 15:04
Consumer Groups Protest Starbucks Decision Not to Serve Milk From
Growth-Hormone Supplemented Cows
To: National Desk
Contact: Steve Milloy, 301-258-9320 or 301-330-3440 (fax)
WASHINGTON, March 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The American Council on
Science and Health, Center for Global Food Issues, Citizens for the
Integrity of Science, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Consumer
Alert, and National Center for Public Policy Research sent the
following letter to Orin Smith, President and CEO of Starbucks
Corporation today:
Dear Mr. Smith:
We are writing to express concern about your recent announcement
that Starbucks' would begin to serve milk products only from cows
not treated with bovine growth hormone. Your action is unfounded,
and harms consumers and the environment.
In 1994, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called upon food
retailers to act responsibly in the face of extreme fringe group
attacks on the safety of milk from cows supplemented with
protein-based growth hormones.
Dr. Koop noted responsible companies could "play an important
role by assuring consumers of the safety of the milk supply, by
providing the facts on bovine growth hormone to interested
customers, or by referring them to credible health and nutrition
authorities." Dr. Koop added, "It is necessary to condemn these
attacks on the safety of milk for what they are: baseless,
manipulative and completely irresponsible." A copy of Dr. Koop's
statement is attached.
Starbucks should step up to the plate as a responsible corporate
citizen and meet Dr. Koop's challenge. Consumers deserve choice and
accurate information.
Starbucks' recently responded to the extreme activists' pressure
by noting that you "hope to be able to offer all of our milk
products rBST-free." This suggests you may not continue to offer
the same safe and affordable conventionally produced milk that you
have always provided. We hope this is not true. Please let us know
if it is your intention to provide only certified organic dairy
products, or if you intend to provide both certified organic
alternatives, and the safe and more affordable conventional milk
that you currently provide.
Please do not contribute to the vast misinformation campaigns
being spread by the extreme activists. Milk from cows supplemented
with protein-based growth hormones, which naturally occur in all
cows, is the same safe, nutritious milk. In addition, dairy
producers who use these supplements are maintaining their economic
viability, helping maintain stable, affordable milk for consumers
and protecting the environment.
Unfortunately, increasing your purchase of organic milk will
increase, not decrease environmental burdens.
Dairy producers who use these supplements produce as much as 15
percent more milk with the same number of cows. That translates to
using less water, land and fuel. These producers help reduce waste
streams and soil loss. They do this while maintaining their
economic viability and supporting stable, affordable milk prices
for consumers.
In the U.S. alone, use of these supplements could reduce water
irrigation by 700,000 gallons, save 1.7 million acres of land used
for feed and grain, save 240,000 gallons of fuel, reduce nearly one
million metric tons of manure and reduce 5.3 million tons of soil
loss per year.
Your responsible support for this safe product helps protect
consumers, the environment and family farmers.
Thank you for your consideration and prompt response.
Sincerely,
cc: Dennis Stefanacci, Senior Vice President for Corporate
Social Responsibility
Howard Schultz, Chairman of the Board
---
Attachment
Statement of C. Everett Koop
On The Introduction of Supplemental BST
February 6, 1994
"Milk from cows given supplemental bovine somatotropin is the
same as any other milk. So, there should be no doubt in the minds
of consumers that the milk they drink is just as safe, nutritious
and wholesome as it has always been. Every issue and every question
about BST has been thoroughly and carefully studied by the federal
government and several independent scientific institutions.
Consumers can continue to enjoy milk and dairy foods with complete
confidence.
"Unfortunately, a few fringe groups are using misleading
statements and blatant falsehoods as part of a long-running
campaign to scare consumers about a perfectly safe food. Their
long-range goal is to prevent the benefits of biotechnology from
reaching the public. Because dairy foods are an important, widely
consumed source of nutrition, it is necessary to condemn these
attacks on the safety of milk for what they are: baseless,
manipulative and completely irresponsible.
"Even worse are attempts by some persons to use school children
as pawns in their opposition to BST. Any suggestion that milk from
BST-supplemented cows is unsafe for children to consume at school,
or home, is a potential threat to their health and well being. We
should be reenforcing the message that all dairy foods, when
consumed as part of a varied and balanced diet, are healthful -- and
not burden our children with unwarranted fears about food safety.
"Supermarkets and dairy processors can play an important role by
assuring consumers of the safety of the milk supply, by providing
the facts on BST to interested customers, or by referring them to
credible health and nutrition authorities."
KEYWORDS: HEALTH, SCIENCE, CONSUMER ISSUES, POLICY
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
03/20 15:04
Copyright 2001, U.S. Newswire
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