forwarded response to Dairy Debate press release from UC-Davis
Alan Furchtenicht (FURCHT@macc.wisc.edu)
Thu, 03 Feb 94 06:30 CDT
Text of forwarded message follows. Please send your reactions to SANET-MG,
BCEPP, and/or Dr. Bremel.
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From: IN%"bcepp@relay.adp.wisc.edu" 31-JAN-1994 16:41:09.25
To: Multiple recipients of list <bcepp@relay.adp.wisc.edu>
Subject: Re: BST Press Release from UC D
>
>------------------------- Forwarded Message Follows -------------------------
>
>Dairy industry awaits consumer reaction to bST approval
>
> DAVIS -- Dairy farmers and pharmaceutical companies alike are
>anxiously awaiting consumer reaction to the Feb. 4 lifting of a moratorium
>on the sale of bovine growth hormone (bGH), a controversial technology that
>boosts milk production.
> BGH, also known as bovine somatotropin (bST), is a synthetically
>produced version of a naturally occurring cow hormone. The Food and Drug
>Administration has studied bGH extensively and approved it Nov. 5, 1993.
>However, congressional opponents succeeded in passing a 90-day moratorium
>on sale of the product. Many consumers remain skeptical and several
>consumer groups vow boycotts that could prove disruptive to the dairy
>industry.
Are such boycotts different from racketeering? If a couple thugs come
into a place of business and threaten to break it up unless some economic
demand is met--that's illegal. How are boycotts with clear economic
motivation any different? Seems that RICO laws were ruled to be used
against the antiabortionists. It seems they might be used against Jeremy
Rifkin etal. as well. Some of the letters his group sent out to the dairy
industry are clear intimidation--no different than a couple of thugs
coming into my place of business.
> According to two UC Davis researchers, two main issues await
>consumers and dairy farmers: How will consumers know if bST is in their
>milk since labeling is not required? And, if consumers mount a boycott,
>how long will it last and how will it affect dairy farmers and the chemical
>companies that produce the synthetic hormone?
> "Consumers want labeling," says Gail Feenstra, a
>nutritionist and food systems analyst with the UC Sustainable Agriculture
>Research and Education Program (SAREP), and a contributing author of "THE
>DAIRY DEBATE: Consequences of Bovine Growth Hormone and Rotational Grazing
>Technologies."
I like labelling too but labels gotta mean something. Food labels are not
for political statements. Why not Republican Milk, Green Milk etc.....???
Labelling by any faction of the dairy industry implies that there is
something different/wrong about the milk that is not labelled. We have
governmental bodies that are charged with making determinations about food
safety etc. They have done so. We are a nation whose day to day activities
are governed by laws. Some "consumer" advocates approaches are clearly
anarchistic.
> David Campbell, SAREP economic and public policy analyst and a
>contributing author of "The Dairy Debate," notes dairy farmers are concerned
>that increased milk production coupled with a possible decrease in
>consumption would hurt milk prices for farmers. A reported 80 percent of
>California milk processors require producers to sign affidavits that they
>will not use the synthetic hormone, or have asked farmers in writing to
>refrain from using it.
That's extortion! I won't buy your milk unless.....
>Campbell says the pharmaceutical companies
it should be company (singular)--only one is approved
> Campbell says that if bST is widely adopted, additional
>government purchases of excess milk due to bST-induced increases
>will cost taxpayers as well as dairy producers.
OMB's recent report, requested by our illustrious Junior Senator and some
of his pals disagrees with that position---
> "THE DAIRY DEBATE," published by UC SAREP in August 1993,
>includes the perspectives of veterinary, soil, agronomy, forage
>and nutrition scientists in addition to economists and public
>policy analysts who assess the consequences of bST-produced milk
>and an alternative technology, rotational grazing.
Rotational grazing in the Sacramento Valley in the summer months will do a
lot to take care of the milk surplus!
Seems as though the "Dairy Debate" should be the "Dairy SoapBox"
====================================================
Robert D. Bremel Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin
1675 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Voice/FAX: 608-263-5652
Internet: bremel@calshp.cals.wisc.edu
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