Here's the Official Answer (was Canned Spam in 2006 WAPF Shopping Guide?)

[Guest guest]

" Berg " <bberg@c...> wrote:

> http://www.realhealthnews.com/dailydose/dd200411/dd20041123.html

~~~Thank you for that article. And now here is directly from the

WAPF website: http://www.westonaprice.org/letters/L2003sp.html

SPAMMING SPAM

I am writing to express my concern about your choice of Spam as

a " good " choice in your Shopping Guide. Spam is packed by Hormel

which engages in factory farming that raises hogs in intolerable

conditions and causes the destruction of the environment. Please

review this choice and let people know it was an oversight.

Schmidt

Menomonie, WI

We are well aware of the deplorable conditions of the hogs that

provide us with most of our pork products, as well as chickens and

dairy cows that provide our eggs and dairy products. However, many of

our members have access only to conventional supermarkets and have no

choice but to purchase animal products raised in this way. Many

people enjoy fatty pork products and Spam was the only one we found

that did not contain MSG. It is also widely enjoyed by Asians and in

fact contributed to a healthy increase in fat levels in Asian diets

after the World War II.

If we eliminated Spam from the Shopping Guide because it comes from

pigs in confinement, then to be consistent we would also have to

eliminate many of the other compromise recommendations that people

buy in supermarkets such as eggs, butter and cheese.

The Shopping Guide was designed to meet people where they are at the

moment. At the same time, through our system of local chapters, we

are trying to make products from humanely raised animals more

available. What we would like to see is the development of pork, paté

and sausage products produced locally from healthy animals. When

these products are widely available, we will remove Spam from the

Shopping Guide.

~~~Oh, and just for fun, I should tell you that a small town here in

Southern Oregon actually has an annual Spam festival and parade. I've

never gone - but I would bet that all the food venders have Spam as

their star ingredient.

Rhonda