Good day for the NY Times

I check the New York Times on a daily basis, but to be honest, I normally scan the "The Most Popular E-mailed Articles" and maybe check out a multimedia slideshow, a travel review or a silly Op-Ed. But today, there are two fantastic articles. One on the industrialization of our food production and another on early puberty in kids. Check this out:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that our food supply now sickens 76 million Americans every year, putting more than 300,000 of them in the hospital, and killing 5,000. The lethal strain of E. coli known as 0157:H7, responsible for this latest outbreak of food poisoning [i.e. the spinach scare of 2006], was unknown before 1982; it is believed to have evolved in the gut of feedlot cattle. These are animals that stand around in their manure all day long [ahem....factory farming], eating a diet of grain that happens to turn a cow’s rumen into an ideal habitat for E. coli 0157:H7. (The bug can’t survive long in cattle living on grass.)" Michael Pollan, "The Vegetable-Industrial Complex", NY Times, 10/15/06

To see the whole article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/magazine/15wwln_lede.html?em&ex=1161230400&en=fb88bad2f039ed21&ei=5087%0A

Most folks don't know that factory farming is something of a recent phenomenon that has grown rapidly only in the last 20-30 years. I hate to be pushy or throw this stuff in peoples faces, but there are a lot of folks out there who really don't know where there meat comes from - and that is now starting to affect the vegetable industry as well. To get a good idea of where meat does come from without one of those scary flesh-showing PETA ads, go to www.themeatrix.com. It's a cute cartoon in the style of The Matrix which explains factory farming in a quick and simple way.

Anyway, the other NY times article about early puberty in young children describes freakish events as five year olds growing pubic hair and young schoolgirls growing large breasts, and way too early (no laughing - this is serious!!!). You know the reason????

"In 1979, the medical journal The Lancet described an outbreak of breast enlargement among hundreds of Italian schoolchildren, probably caused by estrogen contamination of beef and poultry." Darshak M. Sanghavi, "Preschool Puberty, and a Search for the Causes", NY Times, 10/17/06

Wow. To see this article in full, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/science/17puberty.html?em&ex=1161230400&en=9af920c8ec9f2d1c&ei=5087%0A

okay, enough soapbox today. Actually, enough soapbox for the week.

And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE!!!!!!!!
and Brendan
and Stefan......