Guest guest Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 >Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:08:50 -0500 >FoodWaterShelter >From: " Lester J. Germanio " <lgermanio@...> >Subject: Consumer Pressure > > > >http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_1864.cfm >Consumer Pressure Causing Wal-Mart & Others to >Request rBGH-Free Milk from their Suppliers > > > > * 'rbGH free' momentum building in U.S. > * By Pete Hardin > * The Milkweed, July 2006 > * <http://www.themilkweed.com/Feature_06_July.pdf>Straight to the Source > >More and more U.S. dairy processors are >responding to consumer concerns by selling >“rbGH-Free” dairy products. This trend was >building fast, even before recent reports that >rbGH–related hormones in milk were causing increased multiple human births. > >Increased consumer demand for " rbGH-Free " dairy >products is driving more dairy processors to >require their raw milk supplies contain no milk >from dairy farms using Monsanto's synthetic, >milk-stimulating cow growth hormone- " Posilac " . > >Some raw milk marketers are absorbing higher >costs to find a home for milk from farms using > " Posilac " . The tempo of " anti-rbGH " consumer >sentiment is building fast, particularly on the West Coast and the East Coast. > >Historic consumer opposition to injecting U.S. >dairy cows with milk-boosting, synthetic >hormones runs very, very deep. Back in the late >1980s and early 1990s, several years before >Posilac was commercially sold, multiple consumer >opinion surveys consistently showed that about >75-80% percent of consumers thought it was a bad >idea to inject cows with synthetic hormones to >boost milk output. Truth be known … this issue >is clearly a case where consumers' gut-level >skepticism proved far wiser than the assurances >of government officials, dairy industry >flunkies, and university professors who asserted > " human safety " of milk from rbGH-injected cows. > >Recent events show demand for " rbGH-Free " dairy >products is galloping. Over the years, public >skepticism about potential human dangers from >hormone- residues in rbGH-derived milk have not >gone away. Amid the back-and-forth assertions of > " dangers " (by critics) and " safety " (by >Monsanto's allies), one fact stands clear: >consumer demand for " rbGH-Free " milk is growing >each year. And lately, such demand is galloping. > >Wal-Mart pushing " rbGH-Free " milk > >The word in the dairy industry is that a major >push for " rbGH-Free " milk is coming from the >nation's largest fluid milk retailer: Wal-Mart. >Wal- Mart is pressuring its primary packaged >milk supplier-- Dean Foods for " rbGH-Free " fluid >products. And Dean Foods, in turn, is demanding > " rbGH-Free " farm milk from its near-exclusive >supplier, Dairy Farmers of America. > >More processors go " rbGH-Free > >On June 1, 2006, the Dean Foods' fluid milk >plant at Florence, New Jersey shifted to a > " rbGHFree " status. Raw milk marketers supplying >that plant must have certificates from all their >dairy producers swearing they don't use > " Posilac " at all. Indeed, selling raw milk to >fluid processors in New England, eastern New >York, New York City, metropolitan New Jersey … >down to the Philadelphia market is increasingly >difficult. Fluid milk processors in southern New >England are almost rock-solid in their demands >for " rbGH-Free " raw milk. Farmland Dairies >(Wallington, NJ), Hood/Crowley (in New England) >and Dean Foods (New England and New Jersey) all >tout " rbGH-Free " milk claims to their consumers. > >Late word arrives from Montana that two fluid >milk processors-Darigold (the local co-op) and >Meadow Gold (Dean Foods)-have announced they will be " rbGH-Free " . > >No prior consumer concerns about rbGH-milk will >be reduced by recent findings reported in the >May 2006 issue of The Journal of Reproductive >Nutrition, where author Dr. Steinman >reports that a secondary hormone related to > " Posilac " injections- Insulin-like Growth >Factor-1 (IGF-1), may be causing up to a >five-fold increase in births of twins in milk-drinking women in the U.S. > >Meatrix 2 video targets factory dairies/rbGH > >Public debate about rbGH milk (and added IGF-1) >in consumer dairy products has spread far beyond >the ability of mere dairy industry public >relations to contain. Earlier in 2006, a food >activist group unveiled a Web site-based >presentation titled " The Meatrix 2 " -which >attacks " factory dairies " . That group's first >presentation- " The Meatrix " - an expose on feedlot >beef industry practices, was viewed by about 10 million persons. > >To see a copy of this video, go to the Web site: www.themeatrix2.com > >At that Web site, to find the policy statements >on rbGH, click on " U.S. " and then " Food " . > >The " Meatrix 2 " video contains supplemental >information that focuses on the Starbucks coffee >chain. Starbucks is the highly-profitable, >national upscale coffee chain with thousands of >outlets. Starbucks is a major purchaser of >cream-used in those fancy latte coffee drinks. >If Starbucks were to declare a " rbGHFree " policy >for cream purchases, that could almost >single-handedly force cream suppliers to shift >to " no rbGH " milk/cream procurement policies. > >Perhaps recent surging demands by dairy >processors' for " rbGH-Free " milk supplies is a >straight-line correlation to increased publicity >about dangers of hormone- laden, rbGH-derived >milk products … regardless of whether consumers >concerns are being spawned by cartoons or medical journal articles. > >Oregon PSR group pushes anti-rbGH facts … > >Carefully watching increased, " rbGH-Free " >consumer dairy trends is Rick North (Durham, >Oregon). For almost three years, North has >spearheaded the " Campaign for Safe Food " for the >Oregon chapter of the Physicians for Social >Responsibility focusing on food safety. In >general, the group has dealt with Genetically >Modified Organism (GMO) food safety issues, but >with a particular focus on rbGH. > >The Web site for that group is: www.oregonpsr.org > >North, who previously worked for the American >Cancer Society, directs an effective, factbased >campaign promoting " rbGH-Free " dairy products in >the Pacific Northwest. North's group does not > " target " processors, but has worked > " communicating " the growing list of human safety >concerns about rbGH-derived cows' milk to dairy >processors in the region. That task hasn't >always been welcomed by dairy executives. > >But North points to several " rbGH-Free " >declarations by dairy processors in the Pacific >Northwest as feathers in the cap of the " Campaign for Safe Food " . > >* On April 1, 2005, the Tillamook ative >Creamery Assn. of Oregon declared that its >prized cheeses would no longer contain milk from >Posilac injected cows. Tillamook's leadership >saw sales of the co-op's pre-eminent branded >cheeses impacted by consumer concerns about >rbGH. After the Tillamook co-op board of >directors announced a " rbGH-Free " policy for its >cheeses, then Posilac's manufacturer - Monsanto >- tried to disrupt the coop's membership. >* In the summer 2006, Alpenrose Dairy (Redmond, >Oregon) became completely " rbGHFree " . >* In December 2005, Darigold's Seattle, >Washington's fluid milk supply went " rbGH-Free " . >Darigold (formerly operating as West Farm) is >moving step-by-step, according to Rick North. In >February 2006, Darigold shifted production of >its yogurt to a " rbGH-Free " plant. > >Global hospital wellness group: anti-rbGH > >Rick North reports another key organization is >involved with the " anti-rbGH " effort is an >international group-Health Care Without Harm. >That group consists of some 443 organizations in >52 countries. Health Care Without Harm promotes >safe practices in hospitals. Originally, the >organization focused on eliminating mercury from >hospitals and safe disposal of medical waste. In >June 2005, Health Care Without Harm came out >against feeding dairy products processed from >milk from farms using Posilac. The group's " rbGH-Free " policy states: > > " Health Care Without Harm opposes the use of >recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH or >rbST)-a synthetic hormone given to cows to >increase milk production, due to the adverse >impact upon animals and the potential harm to >humans. We therefore urge health care providers >to purchase non-rbGH milk from suppliers. " > >The Web site for Health Care Without Harm is: www.noharm.org > >Key human health issue: higher IGF-1 levels > >The discipline that Rick North has followed at >the Campaign for Safe Food is to present >fact-based human health/safety concerns, in >opposing Posilacderived milk. The specific human >health concern is elevated levels of a powerful, secondary hormone: IGF-1. > >The Campaign for Safe Food cites research >showing elevated levels of blood IGF-1 for >persons consuming rbGH-derived cows' milk. Back >when the federal Food and Drug Administration >originally approved commercial sale of rbGH, >that agency claimed that the additional IGF-1 in >milk from rbGH-injected dairy cows would be >destroyed by digestive acids. Subsequent >research has shown that presumption is not true: >the IGF-1 is shepherded through the human >digestive tract by casein (protein) molecules in >milk. At that Web site, look particularly for >the eight-page brochure titled, " Know Your Milk. " > >Warning: " rbGH-Free " wave surging > >More than a dozen years after Monsanto's biotech >cow hormone was approved for commercial sale, >consumer demand for " rbGH-Free " dairy products >is dramatically rising. FDA's original >assertions about rbGH human " safety " -especially >those involving the secondary hormone, IGF-1- >look increasingly bogus as time and scientific knowledge about IGF-1 grow. > >The recent journal article that correlates >dramatically higher rates of " twins " birthed to >nonvegan women in the U.S. with elevated levels >of IGF-1 in dairy products promises to further >fuel public desires to avoid milk from farms using Posilac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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