30 Scientists Accuse Tufts Researchers of Ethical Violations-- Nuremberg Code

30 Scientists Accuse Tufts Researchers of Ethical Violations-- Nuremberg Code



ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION
A Catalyst for Public Debate: Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability
http://www.ahrp.org



FYI
A report in the business forum, Zikkir, "Out of Sight" was prompted by the publicity surrounding the $79 million settlement of Pfizer's unethical Trovan experiment conducted on Nigerian infants.
http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/571/72/.



The Zikkir article touches on the problems related to the US pharmaceutical industry's increased outsourcing of clinical trials to off-shore locations, mostly in underdeveloped countries including Eastern Europe and Russia which do not conform to ethical restraints mandated by the Nuremberg Code or the Declaration of Helsinki. http://zikkir.com/business/6259?wscr=1024x768.



An in-depth report by the Institute of Science in Society, "The Golden Rice
Scandal Unfolds," demonstrates that academics who are shielded by the US
government seal of approval, have been conducting medical experiments that
are clearly prohibited by the Nuremberg Code. The article focuses on a
series of recent unethical Phase II trials conducted by Tufts University
researchers, who tested genetically modified "Golden Rice' (GR2) on children
in the U.S. exposing them to "an unapproved experimental genetically
modified rice enhanced in pro-Vitamin A that has the potential to cause
birth defects and developmental abnormalities."

The questionable experiments-which ISIS described as "an exercise in how not to do science"--are:

1. Project NCT 00680355.(10) Bioavailability of Golden Rice Carotenoids in Humans.
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT00680355?term=golden



2. Project NCT 00082420. Retinol Equivalence of Plant Carotenoids in Children.
http://clinicaltrials.gov/archive/NCT00082420

The experiment compared the vitamin A value of b-carotene in oil capsule, spinach and Golden Rice - recruited 72 children 7 to 9 years of age. The starting date of the experiment was September 2004, it ended November 2005.

3. Project NCT 00680212. Vitamin A Equivalence of Plant Carotenoids in Children.
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT00680212?term=golden


In this experiment, researchers recruited 72 children 6 to 8 years of age and registered start and finish dates July 2008 and January 2009.

The ISIS report (submitted to the FDA in March, 2009) states:
"The Golden Rice Project website [6] (accessed 17 March 2009), stated that "Golden Rice has gone through many tests since it was first obtained" Nine items are listed; but no feeding trial on animals among them." See: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/goldenRiceScandal.php



"Golden Rice" has been touted as a humanitarian effort to resolve vitamin A deficiency. However, it has met with significant opposition from environmental and anti-globalization activists who view it as a commercial threat.

For example, Dr. Vandana Shiva called it "a hoax:"

"Unfortunately, Vitamin A rice is a hoax, and will bring further dispute to plant genetic engineering where public relations exercises seem to have replaced science in promotion of untested, unproven and unnecessary technology."

"The problem is that vitamin A rice will not remove vitamin A deficiency (VAD). It will seriously aggravate it. It is a technology that fails in its promise.

Since the daily average requirement of vitamin A is 750 micrograms of vitamin A and 1 serving contains 30g of rice according to dry weight basis, vitamin A rice would only provide 9.9 micrograms which is 1.32% of the required allowance. Even taking the 100g figure of daily consumption of rice used in the technology transfer paper would only provide 4.4% of the RDA."

"In order to meet the full needs of 750 micrograms of vitamin A from rice, an adult would have to consume 2 kg 272g of rice per day. This implies that one family member would consume the entire family ration of 10 kg. from the PDS in 4 days to meet vitaminA needs through "Golden rice".

"This is a recipe for creating hunger and malnutrition, not solving it."

"Even the World Bank has admitted that rediscovering and use of local plants and conservation of vitamin A rich green leafy vegetables and fruits have dramatically reduced VAD threatened children over the past 20 years in very cheap and efficient ways."
See: THE "GOLDEN RICE" HOAX -When Public Relations replaces Science
http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/GEessays/goldenricehoax.html



The ISIS report calls the Tufts experiments "morally inexcusable:"

"The phase II clinical trials of uncharacterized, unapproved, experimental GR2 events on children, some of whom may indeed be suffering from vitamin A deficiency, is morally inexcusable. GR2 has not been assessed for safety, and there are reasons to suspect it is unsafe."
See: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/goldenRiceScandal.php



In February, 2009, an open letter addressed to Professor Robert Russell, Professor Emeritus, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University School of Medicine (Email: rob.russell@tufts.edu) was signed by 30 senior scientists who protested the unethical testing of a possibly hazardous substance--"Golden Rice" (GR2) in children.

The letter states that the trials

"appear to be an experimental collection of transgenic events still in the laboratory, uncharacterized in terms of basic molecular genetics or biological and biochemical properties, not tested pre-clinically on animals, or subjected to any other safety assessment."

"The variety of Golden Rice used in these experiments (GR2) is inadequately described in terms of biological and biochemical characterization. anywhere else in the publicly available literature, and has woefully inadequate pre-clinical evaluation."

" It is a genetically modified product which has not been shown to be distinctive, uniform and stable over time. It has never been through a regulatory /approvals process anywhere in the world. There is now a large body of evidence that shows that GM crop/food production is highly prone to inadvertent and unpredictable pleiotropic effects, which can result in health damaging effects when GM food products are fed to animals (for reviews see Pusztai and Bardocz , 2006; Schubert, 2008; Dona and
Arvanitoyannis, 2009)."

"More specifically, our greatest concern is that this rice, which is engineered to overproduce beta carotene, has never been tested in animals, and there is an extensive medical literature showing that retinoids that can be derived from beta carotene are both toxic and cause birth defects."

No results have been made available for either of the pediatric studies (as of 17 March 2009).

The scientists noted that the three Tufts Projects breached the Nuremberg Code / medical ethics code "on a number of counts, and we urge you to call them to a halt immediately."

"They should not be resumed unless and until the researchers can demonstrate that a full range of laboratory and animal feeding trials have been completed and published for the Golden Rice strain being used, and unless and until appropriate regulatory bodies have had an opportunity to come to a view on the health and safety issues about which we are very concerned."

"We can assure you that such trials would not have been approved within the European Union in the absence of safety information, which highlights yet again the flaw of the USDA and FDA regulatory system in considering GM crops/foods as hypothetically "generally recognised as safe - GRAS" in the
absence of hard experimental data."

Further underscoring the U.S. academics' and government agency disregard for medical ethics, the ISIS report notes that an Indian newspaper reported that a clinical trial was cut short in China in July 2008, when the government found that 24 children 6-8 years of age at a primary school in Henyan, Hunan, were to be used as guinea pigs for a trial with Golden Rice."

That trial was also sponsored by Tufts University and approved by the US National Institute of Health--though not from the Chinese government, which was alerted by Greenpeace. Greenpeace has also warned the governments of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam against the risky trials.

It would appear that the Chinese government conforms to higher medical ethics standards than the US National Institute of Health.

So, why has the media failed to pay any attention to these morally deplorable human experiments on American children ?

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
veracare@ahrp.org
212-595-8974

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/goldenRiceScandal.php


ISIS Report 18/03/09

The Golden Rice Scandal Unfolds

Phase II clinical trials on children have been conducted with unapproved experimental GM rice enhanced in pro-Vitamin A that has the potential to cause birth defects and developmental abnormalities Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Prof. Joe Cummins

This report has been sent to the United States Food and Drug Administration on behalf of ISIS

Clinical trials of unapproved, uncharacterized GM rice on children

EXCERPT:
According to a recent report [9], a sample of the Golden Rice grains was sent to Germany in 2001 for a feeding trial with mice. But when the grains were tested for carotenoid content, the scientists were "surprised to find it contained less than one percent of the amount expected." After the rice was cooked, this was reduced by another 50 percent, so the trial was abandoned.

In 2005, Syngenta made GR2 [10] using the maize version of the enzyme phytoene synthase that was transferred from daffodil. GR2 produced up to 23 times the amount of carotenoids in the original Golden Rice, GR1.

But GR2 was not a transgenic variety based on a single transformation event.  On the contrary, it was explicitly stated that [10]: "The reported transgenic rice events [emphasis added] are experimental." There is no telling whether all the children or adults taking part in any of the trials
were given Golden Rice from the same GR2 event.  The results of the trials, as yet unreleased, could well be utterly worthless.

Syngenta was donating these GR2 events, via the Humanitarian Project for Golden Rice, for further research and development (to institutes across China, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Vietnam) "through license under certain conditions", which include "being governed by the
strategic direction of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board" Requests were to be directed to Adrian Dubock, a previous employee of Syngenta.

Dubock helped Potrykus and Beyer work out a deal in which Syngenta could develop Golden Rice commercially, but farmers in developing countries who make less than US$10 000 a year could get it for free [5]. Dubock retired from Syngenta in 2007, but remains a member of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board, chaired by Potykus.

Golden Rice, an exercise in how not to do science

Golden Rice, genetically modified to make pro-vitamin A in the endosperm (the grain remaining after polishing), was announced with great fanfare in 2000 as a cure for widespread vitamin A deficiency in developing countries.

The project had already cost US$100 million, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the European Community Biotech Programme and the Swiss Federal Office for Education and Science, and could cost as much again to develop. It was tied up in at least 70 patent claims on genes, DNA sequences and constructs, a problem only partly solved in the "ground-breaking deal" worked out by Dubock (see above)..

Condemnation was swift and widespread, not least because it was absurd to offer Golden Rice as the cure for vitamin A deficiency when there are plenty of alternative, infinitely cheaper sources of vitamin A or pro-Vitamin A, such as green vegetables and unpolished coloured rice (especially black and purple varieties [11], which would be rich in other essential vitamins and minerals, and hence much more nutritious. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) started a project in 1985 to deal with vitamin A deficiency using a combination of food fortification, food supplements and general improvements in diets by encouraging people to grow and eat a variety of green leafy vegetables. One main discovery from the project was that the absorption of pro-vitamin A depends on the overall nutritional status, which in turn depends on the diversity of the food consumed [12].

The main cause of hunger and malnutrition in the Third World is the industrial monocultures of the Green Revolution, which obliterated agricultural biodiversity and soil fertility, resulting in ever-worsening mineral and micronutrient deficiencies in our food. Golden Rice, like other GM crops, is industrial monoculture only worse, and will exacerbate this trend, as well as the destruction of agricultural land, and the impoverishment of family farmers that also accompanied the Green Revolution [13] (see Beware the New "Doubly Green Revolution", SiS 37).

GR1 was made with the standard 'first generation' genetic modification techniques, using GM constructs that cause uncontrollable mutations and other collateral damage to the host plant genome, with many unintended, uncharacterized effects [14]. In addition, the viral and bacterial sequences, including antibiotic resistance marker genes, in the construct and in the vectors created for gene transfer enhance horizontal gene transfer and recombination, the main route to creating new pathogens and spreading antibiotic resistance.

GR2 represents an improvement in so far as antibiotic resistance markers were no longer used, but still includes a medley combination of sequences\ from plant pathogens Agrobacterium (used in a binary vector system) and Erwinia uredovor, and from E. coli, inhabitant of the human gut, which also contains pathogenic strains. We have highlighted the special hazards of the Agrobacterium vector system since 2003 [15] (Agrobacterium & Morgellons Disease, A GM Connection?, SiS 38) (see below).  The main reason for Golden Rice was revealed in the unusually long news feature article [16] accompanying the scientific publication [8] which stated: "One can only hope that this application of plant genetic engineering to ameliorate human misery without regard to short-term profit will restore this technology to political acceptability."

A detailed audit on the project [14] (The 'Golden Rice', An Exercise in How Not to Do Science, ISIS Report) uncovered "fundamental deficiencies" from the scientific and social rationale to the science and technology involved.  It was being promoted "to salvage a morally as well as financially bankrupt agricultural biotech industry." The situation has changed little since.

The phase II clinical trials of uncharacterized, unapproved, experimental GR2 events on children, some of whom may indeed be suffering from vitamin A deficiency, is morally inexcusable. GR2 has not been assessed for safety, and there are reasons to suspect it is unsafe.  GMO safety in question

The biotech industry has consistently found genetically modified food and feed 'as safe as their conventional counterparts', and regulators in the United States and European Union have accepted this assertion overwhelmingly based on studies carried out and interpreted by the industry [17] (GM Food Nightmare Unfolding in the Regulatory Sham, ISIS scientific publication).

There is now a string of evidence that exposure of many species of animals to a variety of genetically modified crops, and food and feed derived from them, can cause illnesses and death, raising the distinct possibility that genetic modification is inherently dangerous [18] (GM is Dangerous and Futile, SiS 40). This is reinforced in results obtained in the most recent studies.
....
Golden Rice particularly dangerous

In addition, the unbalanced enhancement of single nutrients in GM crops may do more harm than good [27] (GM Crops and Microbes for Health or Public Health Hazards? SiS 32). As David Schubert at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences La Jolla, California, in the United States points out [28], plants possess the ability to synthesize between 90,000 and 200,000 nonessential small molecules, with up to 500 in one species. The enormous repertoire is due in part to enzymes with very low substrate specificity, which are unpredictably altered by mutations and pleiotropic effects associated with GM technology. Furthermore, overdose of many single nutrients are known to be toxic, vitamin A being a case in point. Schubert highlights the toxic effects of retinoic acid and other metabolites of b-carotene, only a few of them can be identified and measured in the current state of technology.

Golden Rice is enhanced in b-carotene, which on ingestion, is cleaved in half to generate retinal for use in the visual cycle. Retinal is also reduced to retinol, or oxidized to retinoic acid (RA), which interacts with highly specific nuclear receptors. Essentially all of the biological activity of retinoids, apart from vision, involves RA. While high concentrations of retinol are toxic, RA is biologically active at concentrations several orders of magnitude lower than retinol. Hence, Schubert states [28]: "excess RA or RA derivatives are exceedingly dangerous, particularly to infants and during pregnancy." RA is required for the development of the nervous system, both by directly controlling nerve differentiation and by generating concentration gradients that direct cell migration, embryonic segmentation, and development. Therefore, RA and synthetic derivative of RA are teratogenic (able to cause birth defects).  They can accumulate in fat and plasma, becoming a risk factor for pregnancy for up to 2 years following ingestion, and multiple low doses of retinoids have greater toxicity than a single high dose.

Because of the type of biological functions controlled by low levels of RA, any perturbation of its signalling pathways by plant-derived RA receptor agonists or antagonists will have clinical consequences. "Could the GM modifications used to enhance b-carotene synthesis create such compounds?"
(This question remains unanswered to this day.) Six hundred naturally occurring compounds exist in the carotene family, and at least 60 can be precursors to retinoids. "Therefore, plants have the potential to make many potentially harmful retinoid-like compounds when there are increased levels of synthetic intermediates to b-carotene as in golden rice."

While all retinoids and derivatives are likely to be teratogenic, good assays and information regarding the behaviour and teralogic activity are available for only three: retinol, RA, and retinal. Therefore, at the very least, "extensive safety testing should be required before the introduction of golden rice as a food."

See complete ISIS report with copious references at:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/goldenRiceScandal.php



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RAW Vegans in America's Entertainment 'Capital' (emphasize CAPITAL !)

Hollywood's Coolest Vegans

By Wynter Mitchell | Saturday, October 10, 2009 8:00 AM ET

Investigation of the benefits of a vegan lifestyle may for some deep doubters need to come from someone incredibly hip and stylish.  I don't care much for Woody Harrelson, and when he appeared on a late night comedy TV show this past week, I had no idea he was and is consistently vegan, but I learned that the next day from online postings the next day.  Could he persuade anyone to tumble head over heels for tofurkey?
Here's what Wynter Mitchell says in his blog (these are NOT my words):

In this month's Maxim, actor Woody  , who stars in next month's "Zombieland," discusses how a chance meeting with a girl made him become a vegan. When the stranger promised him it would cure his chronic acne, he claims the decision turned his life around.
The actor claims a meat and dairy diet ruined his skin and left him lethargic and sluggish. He's been on a raw food diet for 25 years. He tells the monthly, "I used to eat burgers and steak, and I would just be knocked out afterward; I had to give it up."
"The first thing was dairy.  I was about 24 years old and I had tons of acne and mucus. I met some random girl on a bus who told me to quit dairy and all those symptoms would go away three days later. By God she was right."
Recently on "Top Chef Masters," the chefs were challenged to provide a vegan lunch for charming and Zooey Deschanel and about 20 of her friends. Simple right? Except she's gluten intolerant and doesn't eat soy. In other words, everything on her plate has to be totally raw. Explains her dewy skin and cheery outlook.
It got me thinking, who are some of the coolest vegans in Hollywood?  And more important, will they have any impact on my rather bad eating habits?
Here are Hollywood Top Ten Coolest Vegans That Could Talk Me Into A Raw Food Diet:
10. Prince (especially if he put it into song)
9. Alec Baldwin
8. Olivia Wilde
7. Lenny Kravitz (see Prince)
6. Shania Twain
5. Fiona Apple
4. Kathy Freston
3. Zooey Deschanel
2. Casey Affleck
1. Ginnifer Goodwin
So, if anyone is interested in giving me a lesson in converting my junk-only diet into something of value and worth, and you are one of the top listed above, I'm available.
photo courtesy of veganbenalaru.files.wordpress.com

Vegan Food Professionals Can Promote Veganism for Fun and Profit

Veganizing Standard Menus; and Normalizing and Publicizing the IDEA of all-Vegan Restaurants More and more diners either want meatless meals themselves (whether or not THEY are actually FT vegetarians) when they dine out, or diners want those meals for others - vegetarians or vegans who dine out with them (business colleagues, friends, family members, coworkers, et al.). Restaurants can save money by using fewer animal ingredients because plant-based items spoil less quickly.  Less spoilage means less waste or 'shrinkage' of food supplies (and that saves money).  Attracting vegetarian diners and selling meatless items (with the same profit margin calculated for their other food) to current and drop-in diners is a socially conscious way to make money while doing the right thing. Vegan dietitians, nutrition educators, nutritionists, culinary gurus, and others who are vegans who have dared to commit their scientific and educational careers to empowering the food side of veganism often are often Under-employed stay-at-home moms, and thus they are short of cash, but these under-employed vegan SAHMs can earn money while doing effective outreach to modify prevailing food habits at the 'supply chain' level. You will need or should have: *  good working relationship with local vegetarian group(s) *  basic business clothing *  comfortable clothing for working with 'back of the house' (restaurant kitchen) *  computer with Internet connection *  stable Internet connection *  commitment to veganism and its broad public desirability *  good understanding of vegan food and vegan nutrition *  broad vegan menu design skill and experience *  web design skill or a partner wish with someone with wed design experience *  good business sense *  good selling and other persuasion skills *  flexible daytime work hours without a need to haul a child around at the same time *  restaurant or food service experience   © Maynard S. Clark - http:// Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com - Maynard.Clark@GMail.com Veganizing Standard Restaurant Menus Under-employed dietitians, nutrition educators, nutritionists, culinary gurus, and others who are vegans who have dared to commit their scientific and educational careers to empowering the food side of veganism often are short of cash. Such vegan food professional go out to restaurants that are not vegetarian - and offer to VEGAN-ize the menus as follows (a modest fee – oh, perhaps $150 per restaurant - is charged): The vegan food professional understands food and looks at the pre-existing menu, comprehends the SORTS of things that could QUICKLY be 'veganized' by substituting one, two, or three vegan items for animal products, then types out that recipe.  Ingredients chosen should be inexpensive, health-supporting, common (easy to find), versatile, and not distasteful. This process is repeated for each of the menu items which could be 'veganized', and the collection of all 'veganized' menu options is listed in a reasonable order, then the list is word-processed into a simple format (usually with the restaurant's contact information, logo, hours, and more.  The electronic template is e-mailed to the management, and the vegan food professional keeps a copy and retains (unlimited non-exclusive) IP or intellectual property rights to the ideas, the menu, the menu (food) items, etc,. (so that s/he can use these identical ideas again (and the restaurant) is free to customize the items in their way.  The vegan food professional’s (e-mail?) contact info is visible in small print on the menu. Then, when vegetarian or vegan diners (or diners with a vegan friend) arrive and ask about vegetarian options, the serving person brings out the 'very special menu' (the vegan menu), and the vegan diner is made to feel 'very special' with an all-vegan menu in a nonvegetarian restaurant. The vegan food professional also offers to coach the kitchen staff ('back of the house') on vegan food substitutions and to coach the serving personnel and host(s)/ess(es) and managers on how to attract, support, please, and retain veg(etari)an diners. The restaurant management is taught how more vegan items can be more profitable (less spoilage, thus less shrinkage or food loss). A possible synergy could be a two-fold advertising program. A website is maintained for the local vegetarian group(s), which feature these ‘veganized’ menu clients prominently but appropriately on the local vegetarian society’s website.  The link opens NOT to the restaurant’s website, but to a CUSTOMIZED all-vegan-appropriate PAGE with (a) the restaurant’s all-vegan menu AND the restaurant’s appropriate contact information and hours, and a pop-up MAP (perhaps with travel directions from a typed in location).  Also, the restaurant could offer a 10% discount on vegetarian (vegan) items ONLY to veg society members (when their show their vegetarian society or vegan association cards). © Maynard S. Clark - http:// Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com - Maynard.Clark@GMail.com Second Idea: no additional charge. Exciting Vegan Advocates about Vegan Restaurants Normalizing and Publicizing the IDEA of all-Vegan Restaurants (1) Humorous vegan restaurant business plans are written out and posted widely around the Internet, including 'themed' vegan items: e.g. The Boston Bean (either a vegan legume-based restaurant in Greater Boston, or else a global chain, as in SBC - Seattle's Best Coffee - need not be in Seattle), etc.  Vegan laugh at the concept.  SOME concepts 'catch on' and some ideas 'germinate' in the vegetarian and vegan online communities, and ideas happen, and more clever vegetarian and vegan restaurants emerge as clever veg(etari)ans who can get funding start opening such clever veg(etari)an restaurants. (2) Writers include vegan restaurants in their short stories, novels and novellas, radio and TV scripts, jokes and anecdotes, etc.  Vegan dining is culturally 'normalized' (3) Songs – fun, humorous singable songs – are composed that have lyrics about ‘going to the vegan diner’ or dining out in a veggie eatery, etc. (4) Local vegetarian societies are encouraged to develop dining guides that include (i) all-vegan, (ii) all-vegetarian), and (iii) vegan-friendly eateries.  The local vegetarian (or vegan) dining guide is put online.  What’s missing with MOST online vegetarian dining guides is a list of WHAT vegan diners can BUY (and eat) in these vegan-friendly eateries. © Maynard S. Clark http:// Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com Maynard.Clark@GMail.com © Maynard S. Clark - http:// Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com - Maynard.Clark@GMail.com   © Maynard S. Clark  MaynardClark@Yahoo.com http://Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com   - Links ALL my blogs and photo sites "Making  connections  for  plant-based  diets" Vegetarian Resource Center   (since 1993) P. O. Box 38-1068; Cambridge, MA 02238-1068 USA 617-571-4794 (cell)   Maynard.Clark@GMail.com http://maynardclark.spaces.live.com -       Maynard's Veggie and Boston Blog

On World Vegetarian Day 2009, US WIC nutrition program expands to cover fruits, vegetables

  ~~ Maynard S. Clark: http://Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com
An internationalist view:

An internationalist view:

"From New York to Kabul, we need to have the vegetables;
From Boston to Beirut, we need to have the fruit."
2001, Vegan Global Reflections on Peace and Rightful Human Moral Claims
  ~~ Maynard S. Clark: http://Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com

WIC nutrition program expands to include the purchase of health-supporting, life-sustaining, disease-fighting high-fibre phytochemical-rich fruits and vegetables

These changes in the supplemental US food package better reflect the US Federal government's dietary guidelines.

Vouchers also can be used to buy whole grains, canned beans, baby food, and tortillas.

• Related
• 'Smart Choices' food label: a sign of nutrition or marketing?

By Mary MacVean October 1, 2009

• E-mail
• Print

Beginning today (World Vegetarian Day), women and children who receive food vouchers through the federal government's WIC program will be able to use them to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

"It's a really welcome change," said Gail Harrison, a public health professor at UCLA who was on the national Institute of Medicine panel that recommended the revisions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children -- the first major change in the program since it began in the 1970s. "The supplemental food package contributes a very substantial share of dietary intake, and so making it healthier is all to the good."

Added Laurie True, executive director of the California WIC Assn.: "We're in seventh heaven. We've been pushing for this for 20 years."

A typical family will get $14 a month for produce alone, True said by phone Wednesday. That breaks down to $6 for children; $8 for pregnant women and mothers of children 5 and younger; and $10 for mothers who are exclusively breast-feeding.

The changes, instituted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the program, better reflect the federal government's dietary guidelines.

WIC predated the guidelines by several years and, because it was established at a time when hunger and anemia were problems, had emphasized consumption of calcium, iron, vitamins A and C, and protein. The revisions reflect today's problems: obesity and attendant diseases such as diabetes.

The changes also will allow recipients -- more than 8 million low-income pregnant women, new mothers and young children -- to use WIC funds for whole grains, canned beans, baby food and tortillas.

Previously, recipients could buy infant formula and cereal, eggs, milk, juice, peanut butter and dried beans. Nursing mothers could buy fresh carrots for their vitamin A content.

The new provisions reduce the allotments for some dairy products and juice.

Congress funds WIC annually, with $6.86 billion in fiscal 2009; the changes don't increase the program's costs.

Pina Hernandez, the outreach manager for the Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC Program, which provides WIC services to 316,000 people in Los Angeles and Orange counties, said families would continue to receive about $60 a month in vouchers, but the mix of foods would shift.

Families are eager for the change because of the high cost of produce compared with other foods, she said.

Added True: "We have little kids who have never tasted broccoli, have never seen brown rice. . . . The issue is not just ignorance; the issue is cost and access."

All stores -- major supermarkets, corner stores, shops operating exclusively for WIC recipients -- that want to take part in the program will have to stock produce and whole grains, True said. That's 4,700 vendors in California.

A UCLA study, published last year in the American Journal of Public Health, found that "if you add vouchers for fruits and vegetables that they get used and used wisely," Harrison said.

Overall, few Americans are eating enough fruits and vegetables, said a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released Tuesday.

In the report, the CDC said that 14% of adults and 10% of adolescents were eating the recommended amounts of both fruits and vegetables -- not including French fries -- for their age and size. The recommended amount is two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day.

mary.macvean@latimes.com

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

Is God bound by rationality?

In my work at HMS and HSPH, I do a fair amount of research into previously-published work. In the course of joining ResearchGATE (the ResearchGATE Scientific Network), I bumped into a discussion on this (above-stated) topic, "Is God bound by rationality?" You can follow the preceding philosophy discussion, to which I appended my own comment:

If there's room for ontological reflection here (e.g. Anselm: God is greater than that which can be conceived, traditionally, "God IS that than which nothing greater can be conceived), mortal rationality (in any species, not merely our own speciesist species is derivative (according to theological conceptions) and, despite periodic (weekly?) times of reflection (to which some give themselves full-time or intermittently), mortal rationality is best (in the spirit of religious liberalism, but quite consistent with the canons of more 'orthodox' schools of Christian thinking) dedicated to making life better here (in the mortal domain) for everyone, beginning with our own individual and shared responsibilities.

Perhaps the question should be reframed as:

Do soul-searching humans have an obligation to bind themselves to rationality of intention and behavior?

Indeed, in that kind of care, healthcare and other costs likely would plummet and the strategic obstacles to realizing the better world for everyone could be expected to diminish significantly.

Would YOU like to teach the world to sing?

Making connections for plant-based diets: teaching the world to sing vegetarian songs

In the process of making connections for plant-based diets, which I've been doing actively since 1993, when I started the Vegetarian Resource Center, I'm seeking vegan musicians who compose and either perform or sing pro-vegan pro-animal lyrics about what we and all others can do right - that are wholesome lyrics, not hateful, and help enable the good side of the general public in making the switch towards plant-based diets and vegan values.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/VRC-Vegetarian-Music/

The TEXT on that VRC-Vegetarian-Music group list at YahooGroups.com (which is VRC's official discussion list for this very project) is:

The VRC-Vegetarian-Music e-mail discussion list is for volunteers of the Vegetarian Resource Center working in projects of developing vegetarian-supporting music.

Think about every value you hold dear to yourself. Wasn't that communicated through relationship, image, deed, song, and poetry?

Yes!

The 1960's movement for nonviolence throughout Europe, North America, and the rest of the world was spread through music and song. But though there IS an extensive body of lore and song which COULD do the job, vegetarians have never collected that set of resources into one site, nor have many modern vegetarians deliberated on the task and worked intently at creating a modern body of lyric and song, poem and prose, which effectively communicate poignantly, pithily, and powerfully the vegetarian message, and deep as it is in all its lifechanging dimensions.

And if you already HAVE such music already (or know of it), share it with us so that we can get a better idea of what we're doing.

And we're happy at present with commercial produce and condiment jingles.

Let's teach vegetarians to sing!
No, let's write the songs the WHOLE world sings!

We're all interested, too, in developing and collecting literature, music, art, and other resources for vegetarian families.

But in all our months, years, or decades, we've found precious little written BY vegetarians FOR vegetarians.

What do you think YOU can develop, collect, or inspire OTHERS to develop or collect?

Once you join this list, we'd like you to hold up, not only YOUR end of the conversation among all these volunteers, about our respective portions of this culture-building project, but THEIR ends of the conversation, also.

Your contributions to improving our rationale, our social marketing, and/or our persuasiveness in motivating the skilled pro-vegans for this project is sought.

World Day for 'Farmed Animals' (October 2) is morose because the tragedy of animal agriculture is needless and cruel

Unlike World Vegetarian Day (October 1, which is happy and festive), World Day for 'Farmed Animals' (October 2)  is more morose, on the spirit of remembering genocides and holocausts because of the sheer needless tragedy of meat production in the modern world.

Google feed/search for 'vegan' for World Vegetarian Day - October 1, 2009

veg*an

Examiner.com Vegans get blogging for Vegan Month of Food Los Angeles Times - ‎10 hours ago‎ For all of October, vegan-minded bloggers are being asked to toil around the clock (only a slight exaggeration) to celebrate a month dedication to vegan ... Vegan Month of Food 2009 Monroe News Star Veggie pride: celebrate in style Examiner.com Georgia Straight all 4 news articles » Email this story Vegetarian Recipe: Ellen Kanner's Vegan Spinach Pie MiamiHerald.com - ‎22 hours ago‎ An easy but impressive appetizer or main course, this lacks the cheesy ooze of traditional Greek spanakopita but has a fraction of the fat and a vibrant ... Kerry Trueman: Tricks and Treats of the Vegan Lunch Box AlterNet - Kerry Trueman - ‎3 hours ago‎ You can tell fall's in full swing, all the signs are there: the chill in the air, the fiery foliage, the stores stocked ... Can Cars Go Vegan? MotorTrend Magazine - Leslie Griffin - ‎4 hours ago‎ Consider yourself a DIY-er? Have an inclination to change your own oil, open your own hood once and a while, and maybe make your own fuel? New York Daily News Jesse Eisenberg Becomes an Action Figure in Zombieland Huffington Post (blog) - ‎13 hours ago‎ Woody is really happy with that because he's a strict vegan. Q: Harrelson is an incredibly naturally funny guy. I don't know how you get on set with him ... With Woody Harrelson, even the Twinkies are healthy San Jose Mercury News Woody Harrelson was reluctant to travel to 'Zombieland' USA Today Blast all 539 news articles » Email this story Thin Mint Cookies, Cadbury Eggs Win at Vegan Bake-Off Event LAist (blog) - ‎8 hours ago‎ Yesterday not only marked the last day of September, but also the last event at a vegan festival (of sorts) called 30 Days of Celebrating Being Vegan. Examiner.com Vegetarian and vegan diets protect against dementia Examiner.com - ‎Sep 30, 2009‎ But what experts know about this vitamin suggests that vegans could actually have a little bit of advantage regarding B12 as they age. Vegans celebrate! Big Island Weekly - Diane Koerner - ‎Sep 30, 2009‎ "We are very strict in our standards, so that vegetarians and vegans can know there are no slaughtered animal products in the store," he says. Sustainability Without the BS: The Real Humane Farmers Are Going ... Dissident Voice - Paul de Rooij - ‎Sep 30, 2009‎ Activists try to improve husbandry practices or promote supposedly sustainable animal farms because it's an easier sell than the go-vegan-or-else approach; ... Chicago's VeganMania celebrates all things vegan on Oct. 10 ChicagoNow (blog) - ‎Sep 30, 2009‎ Vegans, vegan food lovers and environmentalists will unite on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 10 am to 4 pm, for EarthSave Chicago's VeganMania event. Vegan for a Month surprises bloggers The Tennessean - Jennifer Justus - ‎Sep 30, 2009‎ But when we learned about National Vegan Month in September, we smelled a challenge like a wok of stir-fried tofu. Could we follow the lifestyle for a month ... Examiner.com Publishers Newswire Announces List of Books to Bookmark for Q3 2009 eNewsChannels - Aria Munro - ‎6 hours ago‎ “The Vegan Monologues” (ISBN 9781934074367, Apprentice House), guides readers through the world of being vegan, traveling life's path as an herbivore in a ... Professional Reading School Library Journal all 3 news articles » Email this story No butter, no eggs, no problem: Vegan baking coming into its own Macon Telegraph - Ellen Kanner - ‎Sep 29, 2009‎ MIAMI - When Becca Medvin went vegan at the age of 14, she had no trouble giving up meat. Or milk or cheese or eggs. Ecorazzi Celebrate World Veg Festival at Golden Gate Park This Weekend Examiner.com - ‎9 hours ago‎ Presenters include Rory Freedman, author of Skinny Bitch ; John Robbins, Healthy at 100; Howard Lyman, Mad Cowboy; Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, The Vegan Table ... Ecorazzi Wishes You A Happy World Vegetarian Day! Ecorazzi all 2 news articles » Email this story A Plum of a restaurant caters to vegans and vegetarians Seattle Times - Providence Cicero - ‎Sep 25, 2009‎ Vegans are even more constrained. Remove the protein component from that vegetarian dish (usually cheese) and what's left is too frequently just a plate of ... The State Fair of Texas goes raw (sort of) Pegasus News - James Scott - ‎11 hours ago‎ DALLAS - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times -- it was time to go to the State Fair of Texas. Vegan Carne Asada, Crispy Chicken & More: The Veggie Grill Opens ... LAist (blog) - Zach Behrens - ‎Sep 29, 2009‎ If a vegan restaurant can open in Orange County and not only survive, but expand within the same city (Irvine), then it must be doing something right. Vegan only answer to animal slaughters Bellingham Herald - ‎Sep 28, 2009‎ Their website at WorldFarmAnimalsDay.org offers a number of ways to participate and affirms the need to go vegan. Transition to a vegan diet is the only ... Beta Watch: Gist, TweetMixx, TwoFoods Washington Post - ‎Sep 29, 2009‎ ... sharing and the biggest current trends on Twitter. tweetmixx.com We all know what we're supposed to eat: carrots, brown rice, and vegan bean patties. Scranton Prepares for Book Festival WNEP-TV - Ryan Leckey - ‎10 hours ago‎ Not only are some business serving as venues, others, like Eden Vegan Cafe, are getting involved with the event by offering special discounts and some ... More results for veg*an »