> From: "Bill Pearce" <bs.pearce@xxxxxxx>
>
> we wouldn't need poison if we could have irradiated food, but all the old
> maids with poor science education won't let us.
We wouldn't need poison nor irradiation if all the old corporate execs with
excellent staff of paid lobbyists would let local organic farms flourish.
And actually, you're wrong: irradiated food is part of Codex Alimentarius (with
no upper limit as to dose), and is legal in the US and at least 39 other
countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation
While there's no solid proof that irradiated food is harmful, there is enough
"noise" in the data to be disturbing. It seems to be a perfect case for the
"precautionary principle."
But perhaps the biggest issue is that irradiation is NOT prevention; it's a
"mop up" after producing bad food in the first place! Clean, wholesome food
will not need irradiation.
As Wikipedia notes: "Concerns have been expressed by public interest groups and
public health experts that irradiation, as a non-preventive measure, might
disguise or otherwise divert attention away from poor working conditions,
sanitation, and poor food-handling procedures that lead to contamination in the
first place."
It's the same thing with pasteurization -- a mop-up operation to mask the fact
that factory dairies are incapable of producing safe raw milk. So they get
their public-health-agency henchmen to make raw milk illegal, so that the safe
"mom and pop" dairy down the street has to close.
I'm not going to let you get away with these "shoot from the lip" comments,
Bill!
----------------
The Apocalypse has Four Horsemen: climate change, habitat destruction,
industrial agriculture, and poverty. Each Horseman holds a whip called Growth
in his hand. None can be stopped unless all are stopped. -- David Foley
:::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op ::::
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