8 June 1957 “Peril On Your Food Shelf: A 1951 Article and the FDA today”

This is an interesting article from one of my 1951 magazines. It is apparent here that such topics with actual facts found themselves even in ‘ladies magazines’. It is also apparent that we expected our government to be out to protect our interest and not just those of big business. The article is quite interesting.

Now, today the FDA is simply peopled with former employees of the large corporations in which they are meant to monitor. Monsanto, whom I have spoken of before, affects many aspects of food from the farm itself to the chemicals allowed to be put in. They set mandates for how farms in the US HAVE to be set up and run (and it is not for the benefit of the animal NOR the human who shall be eating it).

Some interesting facts concerning Monsanto (just one of the many involved in FDA):

This excerpt from a Monsanto newsletter lets us see we should be less concerned about rather we are Republican or Democrat, as it seems it matters little now. It is more about who is in the pocket of what company:

"Agricultural biotechnology will find a supporter occupying the White House next year, regardless of which candidate win the election in November"
- Monsanto Inhouse Newsletter, 2000

This was also from the mouths of Monsanto:

A Monsanto official told the New York Times that the corporation should not have to take responsibility for the safety of its food products. "Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food," said Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications. "Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."

However, the FDA is part of Monsanto and other such companies. For example:

The supreme court judge Clarence Thomas was previously Monsanto’s lawyer.

The once US secretary of Agriculture was on the  Board of Directors of Monsanto's Calgene Corporation.

The once Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) was on the Board of Directors of Monsanto's Searle pharmaceuticals.

“In order for the FDA to determine if Monsanto's growth hormones were safe or not, Monsanto was required to submit a scientific report on that topic. Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto's researchers put the report together. Shortly before the report submission, Miller left Monsanto and was hired by the FDA. Her first job for the FDA was to determine whether or not to approve the report she wrote for Monsanto. In short, Monsanto approved its own report. Assisting Miller was another former Monsanto researcher, Susan Sechen. Deciding whether or not rBGH-derived milk should be labeled fell under the jurisdiction of another FDA official, Michael Taylor, who previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto.”

I honestly worry about all of us. It matters little what political party we might support or what we think of various issues, but our health is utmost and important to all. I fear we are so distracted, intentionally so, in today’s world with ‘Entertainment’ and gadgets to keep us busy (the baby with the jangling keys while Doctor gives him his shot) to not pay attention to the real problems facing our country. I try not to be political, but when it concerns the home and that main staple of the home, the food we eat, it is best that we throw out party lines and silly squabbles and begin to pay attention to how our food is grown, who decides how we must grow it, and how it is processed and how it is made. What chemicals go into making it from the animal to the laboratory.

Here is a scary list of “natural” product companies associated with Monsanto:

Brand Name(s): Arrowhead Mills, Bearitos, Breadshop, Celestial Seasonings, Earth's Best Baby Food, Garden of Eatin, Health Valley, Imagine Foods, Terra Chips, Westbrae, Millina's, Mountain Sun, Shari Ann's, Walnut Acres Owned By: Hain Food Group Principle Stockholders: Bank of America, Entergy Nuclear, ExxonMobil, H.J. Heinz, Lockheed Martin, Merck, Monsanto, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Walmart, Waste Mangement Inc. Significantly Owned By: Citigroup

I think I will close with this excerpt from the funny 1981 movie starring Lily Tomlin, “The incredibly Shrinking Woman” who finds herself in peril due to all the chemicals in her daily life in the modern suburb.