I was struck by three (unrelated--it all seems related!) letters to the
editor of the Washington Post on 8/28/99:
Dennis Avery tells us we have nothing to fear from global warming; a tofu
company defends its product that has only 0.1 percent GMO materials; and the
third addresses hormones, tariffs and the use of pesticides by French
farmers. All three letters are pasted below, for your information:
Climate, Castles, Cathedrals
Saturday, August 28, 1999; Page A18
What if the eco-activists are right and global warming is heading our way,
as David Ignatius asks ["Naysay Now, Pay Later"? op-ed, Aug.18].
Luckily, we can look at the prospect of warming through the historical
record, not an uncertain computer model. The answer is that we'd return to
the finest weather in recorded history, the Medieval Climate Optimum
(950-1300 A.D.). The Climate Optimum featured temperatures about 3
degrees Fahrenheit higher than we have now. That's almost exactly what
the global climate models are predicting (though we've had no significant
warming since 1940).
Food production surged during the optimum because of milder winters and
longer growing seasons. All of the famous cathedrals and castles in Europe
were built during that period because people had time to spare from
working in the fields. Storms were fewer and milder. The polar ice caps
did not melt. There was no wave of wildlife species extinction.
DENNIS T. AVERY
Swoope, Va.
© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
Our Wholesome Tofu
Saturday, August 28, 1999; Page A18
I write in response to Rick Weiss's two "Biotech" news stories that ran on
Aug. 15, one on the front page. Our product, Mori-Nu Tofu, was shown
in a close-up photograph captioned "This tofu consumer food from
California, for sale in markets in this region, contains engineered soybean
products."
While I am sure The Post had no malicious intent, the caption's wording
apparently has led many readers to believe that our product is loaded with
genetically altered ingredients because, unfortunately, we have had several
phone calls from concerned consumers and stores.
Our company is very concerned with food safety and packages our tofu
aseptically, which increases nutrient retention and flavor while ensuring
safety. For the record, a recent test conducted by a third-party testing lab
shows our product to contain only 0.1 percent of genetically modified
material.
ARTHUR Z. MIO
Director of Sales and Marketing
Morinaga Nutritional Foods, Inc.
Torrance, Calif.
© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
Enough to Gag On
Saturday, August 28, 1999; Page A18
The French farmers protesting American hormones in imported beef are
probably only sorry they didn't think of it first ["Something's Rotten in
Roquefort: A New U.S. Tariff," front page, Aug. 21]. I visit the French
countryside often, and when I hear them speak disingenuously of their
produits de qualite I can only gag on the enormous amounts of fertilizer,
insecticide, herbicide and you-name-it-cide I see them spreading
everywhere, polluting the groundwater and endangering public health
throughout its beautiful country. This is the same government that has
chosen to put at risk the entire continent by its obsessive attachment to
nuclear power.
I offer my congratulations to the American officials for their exquisitely
chosen targets in French agriculture. The protests in Roquefort, Dijon and
foie-gras land are confirmation of the effectiveness of the message.
RICHARD JOHNSTON
New York
© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
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