Hi Loren,
Wednesday, January 26, 2000, 8:03:37 AM, you wrote:
LM> This raw milk thread reminds me of some folks in the city being
LM> persecuted because their gardens were a danger to public health.
TB continues to be the infectious disease that kills more human beings
yearly, many of them in countries that lack adequate measures to
control transmission through non pasteurized milk & derivatives from
infected cows. (This may less visible from where you sit).
Often, the reason for this is not the lack of legislation but the
influence of vested interests, in this case, wealthy dairy owners who
won't bother to revise their own herds and want to sell their milk at
any cost (as long as it's not theirs).
I have consistently stated that raw milk is more nutritious and better
tasting for those that include it in their diet. The problem
ostensibly was resolved via the certified raw milk category, which
received a more thorough inspection process. It would be interesting
to determine:
Why did so many states drop their certified raw milk category?
Were diseases being transmitted through raw milk even with the added
degree of control?
What needs to be done in order to both assure that (often fatal)
diseases are not transmitted through raw milk & derivatives and yet
permit the supply/sale of raw milk for human consumption by those
that want it?
Thanks to Anton for demonstrating once again the superiority of CAB's
specialized data bases. Access to then is a worthy investment, where
possible.
Douglas Hinds - CeDeCoR, A.C.
Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, Asociacion Civil
(Center for Rural and Community Development,
a Mexican non-profit organization)
Cordoba, Veracruz; Cd. Guzman, Jalisco
& Reynosa, Tamaulipas Mexico
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
LM> It turns out that a city ordinance prohibits front yard vegetation
LM> over ten inches in height. "Public health" is the justification
LM> behind this interesting policy, but no specific hazards from said
LM> vegetation are mentioned, so there is no way to remedy the hazards
LM> or demonstrate that hazardous conditions do not, in fact, exist.
LM> These individuals were apparently recklessly endangering public
LM> health by growing vegetables in their own yards, willfully
LM> ignoring the pressing public health need to have a monoculture of
LM> manicured grass in every place not yet paved. And these vegetables
LM> did indeed attain a height of more than ten inches, in clear
LM> violation of the protective statute.
LM> So again we demonstrate an institutional inability to be anything other
LM> than foolishly binary. Either 100% of us must drink raw milk (or no
LM> milk at all because milk is, after all, a deadly poison) or we must ALL
LM> drink pasteurized milk. Specific samples of raw milk from specific
LM> infected individual animals have been identified as a source of
LM> pathogens, therefore everybody must pasteurize, because the one thing we
LM> cannot have is individuals making decisions about their own lives. The
LM> option of having a small closed herd with every individual animal
LM> verified free of disease, and selling within a limited geographical
LM> region is not taken seriously, despite the scientific validity and the
LM> physical possibility of this option. Yet "science" is used as the
LM> justification for mandating specific management options which preclude
LM> other scientifically valid management options for the same potential
LM> problem.
LM> I criticize one tiny SPECIFIC aspect of public health management, and I
LM> get half a dozen responses telling me that brucellosis is really really
LM> bad and so is TB, as if I have somehow suggested that we start spreading
LM> them around as a matter of public policy. That's right, I would like to
LM> be able to legally purchase certain farm products directly from specific
LM> small farmers of my choosing; this is evidence that I really want to get
LM> rid of the CDC altogether. Either I accept uncritically the status quo
LM> or it's back to the dark ages. Either I must approve every single
LM> solitary use of any technology no matter its purpose, or I'll be
LM> portrayed in straw as an unscientific "luddite" who wants only to steal
LM> the fruits of the enlightenment from all of humanity and hide them under
LM> my bed. And of course everyone will be forced to do exactly what I do,
LM> because we simply cannot imagine more than two insanely polar options.
LM> It feels like I am trapped in a bad sci-fi film.
LM> And I am wasting my time in graduate school, bothering to learn to
LM> discriminate between fact and fiction, assumption and demonstration,
LM> because no matter if I become more knowledgable and wise than the entire
LM> National Academy of Science combined, I will still not be allowed to USE
LM> that knowledge to make my life better in ways which matter to me. In
LM> fact, above all, this will be the one thing I must never be allowed to
LM> do. Because that would be different from what the majority of other
LM> people do, and any time we see a trend toward innovation or independent
LM> thought, we must swiftly act to crush it.
LM> What an idealistic simpleton I have been. I actually believed the
LM> speeches about how empowering higher education is. I cannot believe it
LM> has taken me this long to fully grasp what we are up against. My more
LM> cynical colleagues no doubt figured it out decades ago.
LM> And I am supposed to be grateful that others are looking out for my best
LM> interests, which they are certain cannot be determined by yours truly.
LM> If I would just get out of the lab and watch more TV like other nice,
LM> compliant citizens, perhaps I would begin to see the light.
LM> wondering if my health plan covers anaesthetic lobotomy,
LM> L. Muldowney
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