OT: Small, family-owned dairy sued for offering consumers chioice

[Guest guest]

I'm forwarding this in because the Chinese believe that diet is the

first line of defense in good health, and the discussion on how

processing and production practices can alter the characteristics of

food.

 

From Act For Change: " In a move of Goliath-attacking-David

proportions, Monsanto, the multi-national agrichemical company, is

suing a small, family-owned milk producer in Maine because they

advertise that their farmers pledge not to use artificial growth

hormones (also known as rBST) on the cows that produce their milk.

Oakhurst Dairy pays its suppliers a price premium not to use

artificial growth hormones on their cows and they advertise this via

a 'Farmer's Pledge' emblem on their products. They do so in order to

respond to consumer demand for dairy products produced by cows free

of rBST. The dairy makes no health claim about the Farmer's Pledge,

but Monsanto claims that even a factual assertion misleads consumers!

Although approved for use in the United States by the FDA, artificial

growth hormones are already banned in the European Union and Canada,

and Monsanto clearly fears that even informing consumers of their use

will damage its sales. "

 

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=15454

[Guest guest]

RBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) is also banned in Australia and New

Zealand.

 

There is a great lot of information on the Organic Consumer's Association

website - http://www.organicconsumers.org

 

Cows naturally produce BGH (Bovine Growth Hormone), but the key factor/word

here is " recombinant " though. RBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) is a

genetically engineered growth hormone. It is a genetically engineered

version of natural BGH. Just like rDNA (recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid)

is more commonly known as gene splicing.

 

Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary - recombinant - In genetics and

molecular biology, pert. to genetic material combined from different

courses.

 

GH has its principal effect on the liver, as well as encouraging protein

synthesis and protein retention by the body - it prevents excessive

breakdown of body protein. It does this by increasing the transport of

amino acids across the cell membranes, and increasing the building of amino

acids into proteins. GH also increases the severity of diabetes mellitus as

it acts as an antagonist to insulin in muscle tissue. Since it increases

lipolysis, it increases detone bodies in the blood. Excess GH can damage the

insulin-secreting cells of the pancreatic islets and by so worsen the

ketonic condition. GH also causes a decrease in body fat.

 

GH is also found in milk. Naturally BGH only lives 20-30 minutes, and any

pasteurization kills 88% of what is there. BUT the rBGH is being

manipulated to live longer, and pasteurization is only getting 18% of it.

So here we are, walking around with rBGH in our body. No wonder the

occurrence of diabetes mellitus is on the rise in the USA, as well as a lot

of other diseases.

 

I think I will stick with my fresh home grown goat milk!

 

Tracy

 

 

on 9/2/03 7:23 AM, victoria_dragon at victoria_dragon wrote:

 

> I'm forwarding this in because the Chinese believe that diet is the

> first line of defense in good health, and the discussion on how

> processing and production practices can alter the characteristics of

> food.

>

> From Act For Change: " In a move of Goliath-attacking-David

> proportions, Monsanto, the multi-national agrichemical company, is

> suing a small, family-owned milk producer in Maine because they

> advertise that their farmers pledge not to use artificial growth

> hormones (also known as rBST) on the cows that produce their milk.

> Oakhurst Dairy pays its suppliers a price premium not to use

> artificial growth hormones on their cows and they advertise this via

> a 'Farmer's Pledge' emblem on their products. They do so in order to

> respond to consumer demand for dairy products produced by cows free

> of rBST. The dairy makes no health claim about the Farmer's Pledge,

> but Monsanto claims that even a factual assertion misleads consumers!

> Although approved for use in the United States by the FDA, artificial

> growth hormones are already banned in the European Union and Canada,

> and Monsanto clearly fears that even informing consumers of their use

> will damage its sales. "

>

> http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=15454

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Tracy, for more detailed info on recombinant Bovine Growh

Hormone. I want to comment on a couple of things.

 

> GH also increases the severity of diabetes mellitus as

> it acts as an antagonist to insulin in muscle tissue. Since it

increases

> lipolysis, it increases detone bodies in the blood. Excess GH can

damage the

> insulin-secreting cells of the pancreatic islets and by so worsen

the

> ketonic condition. GH also causes a decrease in body fat.

 

I want to stress that there is a correlation between milk consumption

and rates of diabetes. This doesn't mean that everyone who drinks a

lot of milk is going to develop diabetes, but that people who consume

lots of milk are more likely to develop diabetes. If there is a

history of diabetes in one's family (or if one suffers from Spleen

imbalance and/or Dampness) one might want to limit bovine milk

consumption, especially milk produced with rBGH. (I don't know if

there are problems with other types of milk, or just milk from cows.)

 

> GH is also found in milk. Naturally BGH only lives 20-30 minutes,

and any

> pasteurization kills 88% of what is there. BUT the rBGH is being

> manipulated to live longer, and pasteurization is only getting 18%

of it.

> So here we are, walking around with rBGH in our body. No wonder the

> occurrence of diabetes mellitus is on the rise in the USA, as well

as a lot

> of other diseases.

 

Longer-lasting is NOT necessarily better when it comes to health.

This is just one example. It's also a problem that some people

encounter with the newer prescription drugs which have longer half-

lives than the older ones, and stay in the body longer. For

example, people with CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction

Syndrome) tend to react in unexpected ways to presciption drugs (and

sometimes to herbs). A stronger, longer-lasting drug is not a plus

in these situations. PWCs tend to do better with the older drugs

that are not as strong or long-lasting (if they can tolerate drugs at

all). It happened to a friend of mine who needed a particular type

of drug. In her case a nurse helped her out by doing the research to

find which drugs had the shortest half-life and would be eliminated

from the body the quickest in case she did run into problems.

 

Longer-lasting and stronger are not pluses when it comes to liver and

kidney problems because the weakened liver can't break them down, and

the weakened kidneys can't excrete the by-products as quickly as

healthy kidneys can. Toxins build up quickly in the body.

 

Victoria

[Guest guest]

> I want to stress that there is a correlation between milk consumption

> and rates of diabetes.

 

Actually, that connection is not always negative - I saw one study which

found overweight women (specifically) who drank more milk were less likely

to become insulin resistant - go figure.

 

Jackie

[Guest guest]

What country was the study done Jackie?

 

Tracy

 

>

> Actually, that connection is not always negative - I saw one study which

> found overweight women (specifically) who drank more milk were less likely

> to become insulin resistant - go figure.

>

> Jackie

>