courtesy of Robert Cohen
LET THEM EAT CAKE?
Undernourished kids are starving to death in nations plagued by war, poverty, and famine. Would you expect the United States to send these unfortunate souls high calorie goodies? That’s not what the dairy industry does. Instead, they take the fat out of milk and add it to American cheese, ice cream, and butter. There’s no American market for what’s left; surplus de-fatted milk which is dried and stored as powder.
PUT STARVING KIDS ON A DIET
Is there justice in sending the starving children the same low fat milk powder that Americans reject?
LAND OF FAKES
Land O’Lakes President John Gherty was all smiles. Gherty joined President Clinton in Washington a few days before the new year for the official announcement of this new program. They take credit for their joint act of altruism. In reality, it’s just another insider subsidy handed to the dairy industry.
Outgoing President Clinton called this an “effort to improve nutrition for school children in developing nations.” Under new agreements, Land O’Lakes will handle the export of over 12 million pounds of surplus non-fat dry milk. Eleven pounds of milk are required to manufacture one pound of non-fat dry milk, so 132 million pounds of milk were required to manufacture the surplus non-fat milk powder for this new giveaway.
IMAGES OF STARVATION
We’ve seen ghastly pictures of children so skinny and impoverished, ribs sticking out of their bodies, so badly needing to gain weight. What these children do not need is a non-fat diet product. That is more than irresponsible. That is insulting. That is a crime against humanity.
DRIED POWDER IN STORAGE
This milk comes from cows treated with Monsanto’s genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. European markets have rejected America’s genetically engineered milk and dairy products. The new deal finds an outlet for a surplus product nobody else in the world will pay for. Got subsidies?
How many more cows will be injected with growth hormones to produce more milk than America’s market can utilize? We’ll take all the fat we can to feed to American children. The American Medical Association must be all smiles.
LACTOSE INTOLERANCE
Can it get worse? Sure can. The de-fatted milk is loaded with a milk sugar called lactose. Three quarters of the world’s population cannot tolerate this milk sugar. Those who are most affected are children of color including Africans and Latin Americans. Who will get this freebie?
GOT DISEASE?
The high temperature used in processing the milk to powder destroys enzymes and most of the microorganisms, but some bacteria form spores, and are protected against destruction. Dry milk infected with staphylococcus toxins have infected thousands of people. The most famous incident was an outbreak of gastroenteritis in Puerto Rico in 1956. In 1966, an enormous increase in salmonella cases was observed by the Centers for Disease Control. The increase was blamed on instant non-fat dried milk.