Mom Takes It to the Street (Oooh, I love her so)

Her letter to the Dairy-L listserv follows:


I absolutely agree that the marketing of non-rBST milk is a ruse. This milk is sold by deceiving consumers, who see slogans like "No antibiotics - no added hormones" and, naturally enough, conclude that there must be antibiotics and added hormones in regular milk.

So here's my question -- why can't regular milk labels carry the exact same claim? If we put "No antibiotics -- no added hormones" on regular milk labels, it would reassure consumers. It would alleviate some of the harm being done to the image of the dairy industry. And it would be perfectly true -- just exactly as true, no more, no less, as it is when non-rBST and organic milk marketers put it on their packages.

The tactic we've been trying to use -- fighting back by insisting that the claims made by non-rBST and organic milk marketers aren't true -- won't work. You can't prove a negative, and anyway, it's too late. Consumers don't have the information they need to understand the competing claims, they've been conditioned to think that the specialty marketers are more honest and believable than "big dairy," and they don't have time to worry about it, anyway. They just want to grab a container of milk out of the dairy case on the way home from work without having to worry about whether they're buying a safe food.

If every package of regular milk were prominently labeled "No antibiotics -- no added hormones," I think we'd recover some of the market we are otherwise, inevitably losing to the specialty milks. By not giving consumers this information, we are CONCEDING that regular milk is inferior to the specialty milks. We don't mean to -- but that's the effect.

If we can't beat them, why not join them? Can any marketing people on the list tell me why this information shouldn't be added, right now, to every label on every package of regular milk?

From the Department of Obscure Statistics

With no fanfare, the blog reached a landmark the other day -- the 1,000th post. [Sitemeter does not seem to keep track of this, at least not in the pared-down free version that we use. But when you sign in at Blogger, you will see the current number of posts.] Post # 1,000 was (drumroll):

Red Sox!! and c.

posted by Dad on Sunday, September 24, 2007. Ironically, that is the post in which Dad said, "...the problem with having a blog is the same as the problem with having a dog. They need to be maintained. If you don't put stuff on the blog, it gets "moldy" to use Caleb's word..."

In the 967 days between February 5, 2005, and September 30, 2007, we have put 1,011 posts on this blog -- slightly more than a post a day. (And since Dad's Mold Warning, the rate has been even better than that: close to two posts a day.) Either way, not too moldy. Let's keep it up!

I fixed it!

. . . I think. Those of you who view the blog in Internet Explorer instead of Firefox may have noticed that the posts don't always appear next to the sidebar, but sit down below it so that it looks as if there are no posts. I don't use IE and the blog looks fine in Firefox, so I never thought much about it. But today I thought, "Why not see if I can fix that?" And it looks to me as if I did. Please let me know though if you are still seeing the blog the old way, and if so, which browser version you are using. Thanks!

(The way to fix it, it turns out, was to add this text to every rule in the template with the word "float" in it: word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */ . Google knows EVERYTHING.)

Yankees choke! Again!

The Boston Red Sox are the American League Eastern division Champions! Matsuzaka pitched well. Mariano Rivera and Jason Giambi couldn't come through for the MFYs. HA!

On to the playoffs!

Have you seen

this? It's pictures being uploaded to Blogger from all over the world, in real time. Oddly engrossing.

Don't miss this!

WAR! Between the water buffalo and the lions. And the crocodiles! Hey, Walt Disney! Man is in the forest, and he's just watching!

Animals are so sweet. And gentle. And nurturing. If only we could be more like them.

The Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of

Ah, the US Women's Soccer team just lost to Brazil in the World Cup Semi-final. The World Cup flew by this year without me noticing. I usually make a point to watch every game. This year I missed most of it, and the one game I saw, the US lost. I guess they were on a 50 game winning streak, before Brazil and Marta caught up with them. Ah well, guess I will have to wait for the summer 2008 Olympics.
And the MFYs clinched a playoff berth.

If it took me 25 years to get it all said . . .

. . . how come this lady can say it all in under three minutes?

The Big Mo

Five games to go, three games up and do I detect a shift in momentum? Yankee pitching seems to be declining, and the sword that they live by, hitting, is the same sword that killed them last night. Meanwhile, the RS appear to be getting healthier.

My President

Speaking to the dictators and totalitarianists and thugs at the UN:

"America will lead toward this vision where all are created equal and free to pursue their dreams. This is the founding conviction of my country. It is the promise that established this body. And with our determination, it can be the future of our world."

Sadly, when speaking about malaria, he did not mention DDT. I'm disappointed. Meanwhile, we can keep naming schools after Rachel Carson.