(page 403)

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals threatened to sabotage a major Texas bass-fishing tournament by dumping sedatives into the lake. Officials at the Texas Park and Wildlife Department…

In a recent e-mail, Friends of the Earth - UK calls on supporters to begin local referendum drives in support of local bans on genetically engineered food. The nanny group encourages members to buy only organic food free from "antibiotics, pesticide residues, genetic modification, hormones, and pathogens such as e-coli and salmonella," because such food protects "human health." BBC apparently didn't pick up ABC's recent 20/20 broadcast, which deftly defused the organic myth.

A new study from the University of California Irvine College of Medicine dispels any link between breast cancer and the consumption of well-done meats. "No matter how the food was prepared -- blackened, barbecued, grilled or pan-fried -- red meat didn't increase the risk and white meat actually seemed to offer protection against breast cancer," said Dr. Ralph Delfino, who co-led the research team.

While protestors pointlessly parade around dressed as mutant creatures and macabre vegetables in Boston this week, nannies are warning that protests in Washington, D.C. during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in April might not be so entertaining. One nanny journalist writes, "With police loading their tear gas launchers and activists honing their direct action skills, Washington seems destined for a round of demonstrations that may rival the Seattle protests in their intensity."

Nanny nonsense abounds in this article from Penn State's Daily Collegian. The author wholeheartedly endorses Neal D. Barnard, president of the radical animal-rights group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and repeats Barnard's ridiculous claim that milk drinkers are "at higher risk for osteoporosis than those who drink little or no milk."

The Executive Editor of Tufts University’s Health and Nutrition Newsletter – writing in the Washington Post – takes the U.S. Department of Agriculture to task for erroneously implying irradiation…

Columnist Michele Lansberg profiles the Ralph Nader of India, Vandana Shiva. Shiva thinks the war against “food dictatorship” (a handful of “monster” corporations controlling the global food supply), will…

If something is repeated enough times, eventually it becomes accepted as fact, even if there is no scientific proof to back it up. In a story on the effect of marketing to children, reporter Peggy O'Crowley baselessly links obesity rates to the marketing and consumption of fast food.

The Hudson Institute's Dennis Avery blasts the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and its recent campaigns against milk. "It would be nice if the animal rights groups spent more of their time ensuring that our farm animals and pets are well treated, and less time endangering our young people with dietary misinformation," says Avery. ("Got people for the ethical treatment of people?," The Washington Times, 3/26/00.)

The San Francisco Chronicle has requested comments on its website to discuss changes in the USDA's food pyramid, a proposed federal tax on high-calorie food, and the using of the upcoming Nutrition Summit to fight an "epidemic" of obesity. By all means, speak out against these "ill-advised attempts to control behavior," as the Chronicle calls the proposed government initiatives.