robertshepherd.com
Science, photography, wine and the wilds..Archive for March, 2008
Quote of the Day
No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought.
John Stuart Mill
English economist & philosopher (1806 – 1873)
FUD: “Every bite counts”
Marketing that plays on public misconceptions, ignorance and fear is a reprehensible act, yet not beyond the scope of some organisations (I’m looking at you multi-vitamin and cigarette companies, and the anti-terror tactics of our governments).
This campaign from the Red Meat industry body of Australia is a prime (sic) example of socially irresponsible marketing, and targets parents that are already overwhelmed with messages regarding the very emotive topic of their children’s health. Australia (although to a lesser extent than many other countries particularly nordic nations) is slowly working to reduce the direct marketing of high-calorie foods to children. This comes after several reports of the increasing waistline of Australia’s youth, and the health and economic issues surrounding early childhood obesity and its affects into later life.
In the current climate of global obesity of both young and old, Red Meat Australia has chosen to slip its mixed metaphor of children’s nutritional requirements into catch phrases such as long chain omega-3 fats (LC-Omega-3s), vitamins and minerals. Just to harp on the LC-Omega-3s for a minute, the NHMRC has suggested a range of recommended dietary intakes around 500mg per day for a boy under 14 as pictured in the ad, something that will require just under 700g of red meat per day. That’s a mighty big steak. In comparison, 100g of fresh salmon contains approximately 1200mg of LC-Omega-3s, conviently left out of this comparison.
Of far more concern is the bamboozlery that Red Mean Australia attempts with the comparison of chicken and red meat as far as energy consumption (I’m not even going to touch on the huge environmental and sustainability issues associated with meat production, nor Red Meat Australia’s previously misrepresentation of scientific literature in their “we were meant to eat it” campaign). Seriously, I know that peoples in countries without enough food to eat, or in Australia’s near-past during times of war or famine may have struggled with providing sufficient energy intake to make it though the day, but when was the last time you went to the mall and noticed all the under-nourished youth hanging around the food court? In a population that is struggling to control its weight, playing on parents fear of not providing for their children to push their product is irresponsible and is a prime example of TerraChoice’s Greenwashing sin of The Lesser of Two Evils.
Response to condemnation by the pope
Following my post last week, a senior academic at Monash sent an email response to a few students within the plant biotechnology group, and I thought I’d share it here:
“Although I am not a member of the Swiss Guard (pity as they are a colourful lot – see http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/va-swiss.html)
I do urge you to be very careful not to fall into the trap of believing and supporting the media’s one liners !!! As far as I know, GM is not regarded as being either moral or immoral by any of the major religious or ethical bodies in the world ( see notes from my lectures from Sci 2010). Rather it is the effects and intentions of GM technology which is an ethical issue.Thus use of GM cotton to reduce widespread insectical use would generally be considered as being ‘good’ if all users concerned get a benefit from it (including the environment). If however, all profits flow to a limited number of people and/or it wrecks the enviroment and/or subsistence farmers are prevented from using it or are otherwise forced to be exposed to dangerous chemicals – then it would be considered as ‘bad’.
Similarly, if GM is used to treat a disorder such as cystic fibrosis or cancer it would be considered ‘good’. If on the otherhand it was used to alter someone’s germline cells such that their offspring would be better althletes or better looking and would thus have more chance to earn obscene amounts of money, it would be considered ‘bad’
As far as the other ’sins’ go (polluting, being obscenely rich, drug dealing, abortion, pedophilia and causing injustice), I remember when I was a student in Ireland/UK that most of my leftish and generally aethistic friends were very passionate about the fundamental correctness of these issues and were extremely critical of all those in authority (particularly church organisations) for not doing enough to combat these problems. I hope that 27 years of combined Thatcher/Regan/Howard economics has not totally brainwashed the minds of today’s young adults in the English-speaking world !!!”
Wow, the amazing quotes keep coming!
“Science arose from poetry–when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends.”
- von Goethe
Protein synthesis: an epic on the cellular level
Ahh, to be a free-loving scientist in the 70’s..
Quote of the Day
“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.”
- Arthur C. Clarke, RIP
FUD: “GM canola the new cane toad: Greenpeace”
I’ve decided to begin The Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) Report.
When I see blatant disinformation designed to engender emotion-based support for a cause (particularly that of the anti-GM brigade), I’ll quickly debunk it here. So here goes..
Greenpeace spokeswoman Michelle Sheather says GM canola could become a problem on private and public land and in national parks.
“It’s like a wild mustard, it’s a weed, it just grows spontaneously everywhere,” she said.
“In Japan there’s also evidence in this report of it just growing wild on the dockside and on the road.
“They don’t even grow any GM crops in Japan and GM canola is a problem [there] as a noxious weed.”
When was the last time you looked out your door and found teenagers running around with golf clubs chasing canola? Or wheat? Or cotton? Or any other crop that is grown in Australia at present? When was the last time you had to wade through rice paddy’s that had popped up in your local parkland?
Using people’s fear and anxiety by likening legitimate biological pests (toads, prickly pear, rabbits, camels) to GM crops is blatantly misleading. There is no premise for agronomic crops to spontaneously spread into regions other than where they are planted, GM or not. GM crops generally carry a transgene or genes that involved in pesticide or herbicide resistance. Very seldom do I imagine dock workers need to apply herbicide to keep the overgrowth of apple trees generated from their lunchbox’s at bay.
Source:
GM canola the new cane toad: Greenpeace – ABC News
This is a good time to remind everybody about the Six Sins of Greenwashing, which can be applied to almost all misleading advertising campaigns, political or not. This campaign by Greenpeace clearly falls under the Sin of Irrelevance.
Out of Africa
Here is a brief piece raising a few points about biotechnology in Africa. Can’t say that I’m all for Monsanto pushing governments directly, but I’m looking forward to reading the book “STARVED FOR SCIENCE: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa” that is mentioned in the article.
Out of Africa: is the cult of organic keeping people poor? (Tech Talk)
