This is a clip from The Corporation, a documentary from 2003 directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot. Two news investigators profile Monsanto's bovine growth hormone for a story on the Fox news show "The Investigators" only to be harassed first by lawyers representing Monsanto, then by Fox themselves. It's a very interesting clip, the two reporters have done their jobs, represented both sides of the story, refuse to give in to the wishes of both corporations to falsify their findings and wind up with nothing. It turns out that it is NOT illegal to report false news. It doesn't shock me, I just never really thought about it. The whole documentary is great and free to watch on Hulu.com.
I was going to add that when you see "rBST free" on dairy labels this is what that means, it's free of the bovine growth hormone recombinant bovine somatatropin. When I went to lord google to get the correct spelling of the hormone I find this (below) from www.stoplabelinglies.com and since I love to stop lies I read it.
| ACSH Agrees rbST-Free Milk Marketing Misleading | |||||||
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| By : Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D. - (ACSH) August 29, 2007 | |||||||
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D. August 29, 2007 Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have ruled that companies that sell milk and other dairy products may state that the milk comes from cows that were not treated with recombinant bovine somatatropin (rBST) bioengineered hormone is identical to the one naturally produced by cows and, when injected, extends the period of milk production. Monsanto, the corporation that produces rBST, had sued to restrict such labeling. Marketers who use the "our cows aren't given rBST" approach are thus legally correct but scientifically wrongheaded. There's nothing unhealthful or dangerous (to humans or cows) from using rBST, in spite of activists' claims (does anyone doubt that the proponents of organic foods are behind these claims?). But the implication of this labeling is that the milk from rBST-treated cows is somehow inferior to that from untreated cows, which it isn't. Thus it perpetuates a myth about the supposed advantages of "natural" products. While ACSH is in favor of truthful advertising and marketing, sometimes following the letter of the law can lead to the dissemination of misinformation. This is such a case. Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., is Director of Nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com). |
Can I say any more? We have the director of Nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health siding with Monsanto, making a dig against proponents of organic foods and stating that the advantages of "natural" foods are a myth. Not to mention lying about the effects on cows and humans that rBST causes. Yikes. I guess Dr. Kava was already familiar with the title of my post.
2 comments:
Don't believe every documentary you see.
These reporters have been involved in a number of sketchy investigative reports. Whether or not rBST has negative health effects, supports of Wilson and Akre used the process to distort the news for their own agenda.
http://reason.com/archives/2006/05/05/the-strange-case-of-steve-wils
From the article:
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The Web site Biotalk, a promotional vehicle for the film The Corporation, proclaimed: “Appeal court judges ruled that falsifying news isn’t actually against the law. So they denied Jane her whistleblower status.”
In fact, the court ruled the couple’s case didn’t fall under the state’s definition of whistleblower, which involves threatening to expose a violation of a law, rule, or regulation. The court was never asked to rule on whether the media can lie; nor would that have been in any way appropriate in what was merely an employment dispute.
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So, you can't believe either side. The corporations are lying. The media is lying. Everyone is lying.
You can only trust yourself. Go read the source material. The findings are actually pretty inconclusive about the effects rBST on humans. The court transcripts show that Steve Wilson is pretty much a scum bag.
PS: Hulu is partially owned by Fox.
Also, many findings published in medical journals are based on flawed studies.
Read here about meta-research in the medical field: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/8269/1/
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