Getting back to our roots as everyday scientists: Permaculture.

By | November 9, 2008 | Citizen Science, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Terrie Miller is an amateur naturalist, citizen scientist, permaculturist and writer who lives in Northern Calfornia.  She’s the publisher of the Citizen Science Projects Weblog. (You can find more of her writing at Grinning Jaguar.)

She’s also our first guest blogger! We asked Terrie to tell us more about permaculture, a fascinating citizen scientist opportunity:

“Permaculture is a design practice and way of life that seeks to establish human settlements that work as natural systems. It combines growing and harvesting food, soil management, natural building, watershed management, forestry, animal systems, intentional community building and other skills, all towards living in a way that’s sustainable.”

You can read Terrie’s full Permaculture article here.

 

 

Terrie’s a big fan of this, and other, citizen science projects as cures to ”nature-deficit disorder” (our disconnect from nature):

“Like many of my hawk watching friends, I joined Hawk Watch not for the science, but for the love of hawks. We questioned our own data, and discussed how it was influenced by factors like weather, resident vs. migrating hawks, and different observers. I began to see how citizen science was connecting us to the practice of science, but also helping to connect us back to nature. My experience as a citizen scientist was having a positive impact on my mental and emotional health.”

So how do we get from hawks and citizen science to food and the sustainability of our future? Find out in Terrie’s thoughtful and enlightening article, here.  (Let us know if you decide to give permaculture a shot! And, if anyone in Philadelphia is interested in pursuing this with me, let’s talk.)

 

  • Pingback: Citizen Science, Permaculture, and Sustainable Food Systems: Guest Post on Science Cheerleader

  • http://www.districtofcolumbiadispatches.blogspot.com Philip H.

    I think it’s a grand idea – at least in terms of getting back to local food sources, and better designed built environments. Lot’s of leaders in this area all over the internet. That said, I think my cat would have a hard time accepting chickens in my yard.

  • http://www.districtofcolumbiadispatches.blogspot.com Philip H.

    I think it’s a grand idea – at least in terms of getting back to local food sources, and better designed built environments. Lot’s of leaders in this area all over the internet. That said, I think my cat would have a hard time accepting chickens in my yard.

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  • Pingback: amateur astronomy

  • John Scatchard

    Terrie:
    This is more about advances in health care. I hope there is something new and interesting for you. JS :
    Dear People:
    I am sending this letter to people who exhibit interest in public health. The main point is that many chronic diseases have microbial causes and it is possible, after appropriate antimicrobial intervention, to feed the human just enough of the correct foods but to not feed the pathogens.
    Many recent studies have shown a definite response to antibiotics in diseases such as XMRV, MS, Lyme disease, RA and others. Researchers report that pathogen titers drop quickly when given the correct cocktail of drugs, but symptoms are slow to improve. This effect is thought to be due to lingering microbial metabolites or possibly spore-like blebs.
    Fasting for 36 to 72 hours is not horribly painful and it gets rid of symptoms quickly. The following information is included for researchers. It is not suggested that untrained or unsupervised individuals fast for more than a day.
    Many common problems are aggravated by intestinal Candida and there are probably many additional unrecognized molds and fungi that affect the general population. Not many good drugs exist for treating yeast, mold and fungi. A traditional and effective strategy is to fast for a short time, then with diligent use of a diet diary, add back only the foods that a person can easily digest and metabolize.
    A day or two into a fast rather than being in the digestive system as usual, the body’s enzymes and immune cells are free to work in the blood, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), lymph and tissues, where they control lingering pathogens and immune complexes. Free enzymes also digest lipoprotein and glycolipid barriers around viruses and spore-like formations so the immune system can recognize and destroy them. Drinking water and exercising help circulate lymph and CSF.
    After a fast, taking supplemental probiotics, trace minerals, essential fatty acids and vitamins is highly advantageous. The improvement of symptoms effecting joint mobility, clairity of vision, better digestion, regular heart rhythms and skin problems including rashes and warts is well worth the few days it takes to resume a normal eating pattern. Consuming vegetables, protein foods and moderate consumption of beans and whole grains while excluding sugar and fast burning carbohydrates is usually an effective way to keep the immune system functioning well. New research also shows the connection between low levels of Vitamin D and MS! The new recommended amount is about ten times what it used to be.
    A useful diagnostic technique that could be introduced around the second day of a fast is the analysis of the slime that can be scraped off the tongue with a spoon. There must be clues in the form of metabolites and genomic signatures that are left behind by the individual pathogen species. Maldigested foods will also leave behind clues regarding enzyme deficiencies etc. It is possible that metabolites from mold around the toenails, for instance, could feed or upregulate pathogens in kidney cysts. Such microbial interactions could also apply in the case of undesireable large intestine flora and the gall bladder.
    New advances such as those from these authors are an inspiration to me:
    Sincerely, John Scatchard
    1 >>> http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.pdf
    David Wheldon MB FRCPath…………… After much controversy there is now powerful evidence for the respiratory pathogen Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) pneumoniae being a causal factor in some variants of the neurological illness Multiple Sclerosis.
    The evidence for a causal association of C. pneumoniae with majority subsets of MS has been garnered by a surprisingly diverse array of methods; cultural, molecular (both DNA and RNA based), immunohistological, serological (blood and CSF based), animal model, ultrastructural and therapeutic trial. It is this very diversity of methodology which makes the evidence compelling. The subject has recently been reviewed in some detail by Chuck Stratton and myself [Stratton CW, Wheldon DB. Multiple sclerosis: an infectious syndrome involving Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Trends Microbiol. 2006 Nov;14(11):474-9.]
    I recommended the following oral antichlamydial regimen:
    doxycycline 200mg once daily roxithromycin 300mg once daily (azithromycin 250mg three days a week is an alternative.)
    Short courses of metronidazole will later be added to this regimen.
    2 >>> http://www.chlamydiae.com/restricted/docs/infections/chp_alzheimers.asp.
    …….However, in 1998, Balin et al., reported that they were able to find C. pneumoniae DNA in the brains of 17 out of 19 persons with sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, but in only 1 out of 19 controls …. It was concluded that therapy with doxycycline and rifampin might have a therapeutic role in these patients………
    3 >>> http://www.chlamydiae.com/restricted/docs/…/chp_alzheimers.asp – (similar)
    MacIntyre, A., Hammond, C. J., Little, C. S., Appelt, D. M. & Balin, B. J. (2002). Chlamydia pneumoniae infection alters the junctional complex proteins of human brain microvascular endothelial cells. FEMS Microbiology Letters 217, 167 – 172. ….. …decreased expression of the tight junctional protein occludin [MacIntyre et al., 2002]. This provides a plausible mechanism by which C. pneumoniae might cross the blood brain barrier to promote inflammation within the central nervous system. …. of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in Italian multiple sclerosis patients. … doxycycline and rifampin for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. J Am … (Also)…doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1469-0691.2008.02130. …… Moreover, C. pneumoniae has been reported as a possible cause of atherosclerosis and central nervous system disorders. The current reference standard for serological diagnosis of acute infection is microimmunofluorescence testing, although molecular detection techniques may well become reference diagnostic tests in the near future. Tetracyclines and erythromycin show good in vitro activity…….
    4 >>> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15468362 – ………
    Doxycycline versus doxycycline and rifampin in undifferentiated …..
    Carter JD, Valeriano J, Vasey FB. Division of Rheumatology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA. jocarter@hsc.usf.edu …
    OBJECTIVE: Chlamydia is a known trigger of reactive arthritis (ReA). It may also be common cause of undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (uSpA). Persistent, metabolically active, Chlamydiae have been observed in the synovial tissue of these patients years after their initial exposure…… We conducted a prospective, randomized 9-month trial to evaluate the efficacy of doxycycline versus a combination of doxycycline and rifampin in the treatment of uSpA…….. CONCLUSION: The combination of doxycycline and rifampin for 9 months seemed to be effective in treatment of chronic uSpA. This is the first study to demonstrate therapeutic benefit with antimicrobials to a chronic inflammatory arthritis possibly secondary to persistent Chlamydia.
    5 >>> brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/124/7/1325.
    Sriram S, Mitchell W, Stratton C. Multiple sclerosis associated with …
    Intrathecal antibody production against Chlamydia pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis is part of a polyspecific immune response …….Tobias Derfuss1,*, Robert Gürkov1,*, Florian ………. Recently, a link between Chlamydia pneumoniae and multiple sclerosis has been claimed. To test the possible role of C. pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis, we analysed (i) whether there is intrathecal IgG production against C. pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis and (ii) if the oligoclonal IgGs in the CSF of multiple sclerosis patients recognize C. pneumoniae. … Together, our findings strongly suggest that the immune response to C. pneumoniae is part of a polyspecific intrathecal Ig production, as is commonly observed with other pathogens. This argues against a specific role for C. pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis.
    6 >>> http://www.springerlink.com/index/1DR30P0821ML73CM.pdf -
    D. Theegarten, Grigori Mogilevski1…Virchows Archiv…Volume 437, Number 2 / August, 2000 … The role of chlamydia in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema
    Chlamydia pneumoniae has been detected in atherosclerotic plaques by various means. Chlamydiae are able to cause persistent infections……..Chronic infection and bacterial colonization associated with progressive disease seems to be relevant not only in atherosclerosis but also in pulmonary emphysema.
    7 >>> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9316607 …….
    Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. Hayes CE, Cantorna MT, DeLuca HF. Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706, USA. …
    …..MS may be preventable in genetically susceptible individuals with early intervention strategies that provide adequate levels of hormonally active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or its analogs. …….

    >>>> And, here are some more ideas I’ve been sending to concerned people:
    School Violence and Drug Abuse:
    http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Takes…Canadas…/dp/0618569898 -
    Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America
    ~ Paul Tough (Author) …..
    Basically, the author’s crew found new parents or parents to be, by roaming the streets of NYC. Then they talked them into attending Saturday classes for nine weeks. They taught them how to not hit their kids and read to them every day. Reading and talking in encouraging ways from day, or year one did the most to develop their brains biologically and socially. The die is cast before about year five. (JS)
    http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=219 …..
    HighScope Perry Preschool Study ….
    From 1962–1967, at ages 3 and 4, the subjects were randomly divided into a program group that received a high-quality preschool program based on HighScope’s participatory learning approach and a comparison group who received no preschool program….. The study found that adults at age 40 who had the preschool program had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more likely to have graduated from high school than adults who did not have preschool.
    http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/06/sep/methstudy.shtml ….
    The results are in …
    Six years after 148 sixth-graders began the Iowa Strengthening Families Program, none reported using meth within the past year by the time they were in 12th grade, compared with five users among the 156 (3.2%) in the control group. ….. In the second study, four years after 187 seventh-graders began the revised Strengthening Families Program group (0.5%), one reported previous year meth use by the time they were in 11th grade — compared with eight among the 193 students (4.2%) in the control group. At the 12th-grade level, three of the Life Skills Training intervention subjects reported past year use, compared with nine in the control group.
    http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/548684/. …..
    The longitudinal “Project Family” study recruited 667 families through 33 Iowa school districts. The researchers calculated that the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) intervention cost $12,459 per disorder prevented, but resulted in a $119,633 benefit to communities per alcohol disorder prevented — a $9.60 return on each dollar invested. The “Capable Families and Youth” trial recruited 679 families through 36 Iowa school districts. Researchers found that Life Skills Training intervention cost $4,921 per methamphetamine use case prevented, but produced a $130,013 employer benefit per methamphetamine user prevented — a $9.98 return on each dollar invested.

    Health Care and Insurance:
    The health care problem in this country can be addressed effectively if the emphasis can be directed not just to better allotment of drugs, but to achieving better health in general. Consider the effect of visually conditioning people to appreciate health promoting foods and strongly discouraging them from eating health destroying foods. Because of the industry driven, unethical promotion of sugary, greasy snacks, people think that junk food can be eaten regularly without consequence.
    It is illegal to make statements that might harm the financial interests of industry, however, opposing TV ads depicting similar ingredients prepared in healthy ways without the sugar and grease can be run in succession to the offending junk food ads.
    So far, the medical industry has not publicly recognized the connection between the intestinal yeast related epidemic of Candida albicans, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and the over-consumption of junk food. We also need to understand that eating sugary food in the morning causes people to crave sugar for the rest of the day. As a population, our choice is to continue eating addictive, sugary, inexpensive junk foods and cereals and paying a huge price to the medical industry, or avoiding many health problems by spending more on diets of adequate protein, vitamin and mineral containing vegetables, whole grains and beans. Public education and visual conditioning via television ads supported by consumer protection groups, political action committees, nurses groups and etc. may be the best choice we have.
    Sincerely, John Scatchard

  • John Scatchard

    Terrie:
    This is more about advances in health care. I hope there is something new and interesting for you. JS :
    Dear People:
    I am sending this letter to people who exhibit interest in public health. The main point is that many chronic diseases have microbial causes and it is possible, after appropriate antimicrobial intervention, to feed the human just enough of the correct foods but to not feed the pathogens.
    Many recent studies have shown a definite response to antibiotics in diseases such as XMRV, MS, Lyme disease, RA and others. Researchers report that pathogen titers drop quickly when given the correct cocktail of drugs, but symptoms are slow to improve. This effect is thought to be due to lingering microbial metabolites or possibly spore-like blebs.
    Fasting for 36 to 72 hours is not horribly painful and it gets rid of symptoms quickly. The following information is included for researchers. It is not suggested that untrained or unsupervised individuals fast for more than a day.
    Many common problems are aggravated by intestinal Candida and there are probably many additional unrecognized molds and fungi that affect the general population. Not many good drugs exist for treating yeast, mold and fungi. A traditional and effective strategy is to fast for a short time, then with diligent use of a diet diary, add back only the foods that a person can easily digest and metabolize.
    A day or two into a fast rather than being in the digestive system as usual, the body’s enzymes and immune cells are free to work in the blood, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), lymph and tissues, where they control lingering pathogens and immune complexes. Free enzymes also digest lipoprotein and glycolipid barriers around viruses and spore-like formations so the immune system can recognize and destroy them. Drinking water and exercising help circulate lymph and CSF.
    After a fast, taking supplemental probiotics, trace minerals, essential fatty acids and vitamins is highly advantageous. The improvement of symptoms effecting joint mobility, clairity of vision, better digestion, regular heart rhythms and skin problems including rashes and warts is well worth the few days it takes to resume a normal eating pattern. Consuming vegetables, protein foods and moderate consumption of beans and whole grains while excluding sugar and fast burning carbohydrates is usually an effective way to keep the immune system functioning well. New research also shows the connection between low levels of Vitamin D and MS! The new recommended amount is about ten times what it used to be.
    A useful diagnostic technique that could be introduced around the second day of a fast is the analysis of the slime that can be scraped off the tongue with a spoon. There must be clues in the form of metabolites and genomic signatures that are left behind by the individual pathogen species. Maldigested foods will also leave behind clues regarding enzyme deficiencies etc. It is possible that metabolites from mold around the toenails, for instance, could feed or upregulate pathogens in kidney cysts. Such microbial interactions could also apply in the case of undesireable large intestine flora and the gall bladder.
    New advances such as those from these authors are an inspiration to me:
    Sincerely, John Scatchard
    1 >>> http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.pdf
    David Wheldon MB FRCPath…………… After much controversy there is now powerful evidence for the respiratory pathogen Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) pneumoniae being a causal factor in some variants of the neurological illness Multiple Sclerosis.
    The evidence for a causal association of C. pneumoniae with majority subsets of MS has been garnered by a surprisingly diverse array of methods; cultural, molecular (both DNA and RNA based), immunohistological, serological (blood and CSF based), animal model, ultrastructural and therapeutic trial. It is this very diversity of methodology which makes the evidence compelling. The subject has recently been reviewed in some detail by Chuck Stratton and myself [Stratton CW, Wheldon DB. Multiple sclerosis: an infectious syndrome involving Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Trends Microbiol. 2006 Nov;14(11):474-9.]
    I recommended the following oral antichlamydial regimen:
    doxycycline 200mg once daily roxithromycin 300mg once daily (azithromycin 250mg three days a week is an alternative.)
    Short courses of metronidazole will later be added to this regimen.
    2 >>> http://www.chlamydiae.com/restricted/docs/infections/chp_alzheimers.asp.
    …….However, in 1998, Balin et al., reported that they were able to find C. pneumoniae DNA in the brains of 17 out of 19 persons with sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, but in only 1 out of 19 controls …. It was concluded that therapy with doxycycline and rifampin might have a therapeutic role in these patients………
    3 >>> http://www.chlamydiae.com/restricted/docs/…/chp_alzheimers.asp – (similar)
    MacIntyre, A., Hammond, C. J., Little, C. S., Appelt, D. M. & Balin, B. J. (2002). Chlamydia pneumoniae infection alters the junctional complex proteins of human brain microvascular endothelial cells. FEMS Microbiology Letters 217, 167 – 172. ….. …decreased expression of the tight junctional protein occludin [MacIntyre et al., 2002]. This provides a plausible mechanism by which C. pneumoniae might cross the blood brain barrier to promote inflammation within the central nervous system. …. of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in Italian multiple sclerosis patients. … doxycycline and rifampin for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. J Am … (Also)…doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1469-0691.2008.02130. …… Moreover, C. pneumoniae has been reported as a possible cause of atherosclerosis and central nervous system disorders. The current reference standard for serological diagnosis of acute infection is microimmunofluorescence testing, although molecular detection techniques may well become reference diagnostic tests in the near future. Tetracyclines and erythromycin show good in vitro activity…….
    4 >>> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15468362 – ………
    Doxycycline versus doxycycline and rifampin in undifferentiated …..
    Carter JD, Valeriano J, Vasey FB. Division of Rheumatology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA. jocarter@hsc.usf.edu …
    OBJECTIVE: Chlamydia is a known trigger of reactive arthritis (ReA). It may also be common cause of undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (uSpA). Persistent, metabolically active, Chlamydiae have been observed in the synovial tissue of these patients years after their initial exposure…… We conducted a prospective, randomized 9-month trial to evaluate the efficacy of doxycycline versus a combination of doxycycline and rifampin in the treatment of uSpA…….. CONCLUSION: The combination of doxycycline and rifampin for 9 months seemed to be effective in treatment of chronic uSpA. This is the first study to demonstrate therapeutic benefit with antimicrobials to a chronic inflammatory arthritis possibly secondary to persistent Chlamydia.
    5 >>> brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/124/7/1325.
    Sriram S, Mitchell W, Stratton C. Multiple sclerosis associated with …
    Intrathecal antibody production against Chlamydia pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis is part of a polyspecific immune response …….Tobias Derfuss1,*, Robert Gürkov1,*, Florian ………. Recently, a link between Chlamydia pneumoniae and multiple sclerosis has been claimed. To test the possible role of C. pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis, we analysed (i) whether there is intrathecal IgG production against C. pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis and (ii) if the oligoclonal IgGs in the CSF of multiple sclerosis patients recognize C. pneumoniae. … Together, our findings strongly suggest that the immune response to C. pneumoniae is part of a polyspecific intrathecal Ig production, as is commonly observed with other pathogens. This argues against a specific role for C. pneumoniae in multiple sclerosis.
    6 >>> http://www.springerlink.com/index/1DR30P0821ML73CM.pdf -
    D. Theegarten, Grigori Mogilevski1…Virchows Archiv…Volume 437, Number 2 / August, 2000 … The role of chlamydia in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema
    Chlamydia pneumoniae has been detected in atherosclerotic plaques by various means. Chlamydiae are able to cause persistent infections……..Chronic infection and bacterial colonization associated with progressive disease seems to be relevant not only in atherosclerosis but also in pulmonary emphysema.
    7 >>> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9316607 …….
    Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. Hayes CE, Cantorna MT, DeLuca HF. Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706, USA. …
    …..MS may be preventable in genetically susceptible individuals with early intervention strategies that provide adequate levels of hormonally active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or its analogs. …….

    >>>> And, here are some more ideas I’ve been sending to concerned people:
    School Violence and Drug Abuse:
    http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Takes…Canadas…/dp/0618569898 -
    Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America
    ~ Paul Tough (Author) …..
    Basically, the author’s crew found new parents or parents to be, by roaming the streets of NYC. Then they talked them into attending Saturday classes for nine weeks. They taught them how to not hit their kids and read to them every day. Reading and talking in encouraging ways from day, or year one did the most to develop their brains biologically and socially. The die is cast before about year five. (JS)
    http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=219 …..
    HighScope Perry Preschool Study ….
    From 1962–1967, at ages 3 and 4, the subjects were randomly divided into a program group that received a high-quality preschool program based on HighScope’s participatory learning approach and a comparison group who received no preschool program….. The study found that adults at age 40 who had the preschool program had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more likely to have graduated from high school than adults who did not have preschool.
    http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/06/sep/methstudy.shtml ….
    The results are in …
    Six years after 148 sixth-graders began the Iowa Strengthening Families Program, none reported using meth within the past year by the time they were in 12th grade, compared with five users among the 156 (3.2%) in the control group. ….. In the second study, four years after 187 seventh-graders began the revised Strengthening Families Program group (0.5%), one reported previous year meth use by the time they were in 11th grade — compared with eight among the 193 students (4.2%) in the control group. At the 12th-grade level, three of the Life Skills Training intervention subjects reported past year use, compared with nine in the control group.
    http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/548684/. …..
    The longitudinal “Project Family” study recruited 667 families through 33 Iowa school districts. The researchers calculated that the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) intervention cost $12,459 per disorder prevented, but resulted in a $119,633 benefit to communities per alcohol disorder prevented — a $9.60 return on each dollar invested. The “Capable Families and Youth” trial recruited 679 families through 36 Iowa school districts. Researchers found that Life Skills Training intervention cost $4,921 per methamphetamine use case prevented, but produced a $130,013 employer benefit per methamphetamine user prevented — a $9.98 return on each dollar invested.

    Health Care and Insurance:
    The health care problem in this country can be addressed effectively if the emphasis can be directed not just to better allotment of drugs, but to achieving better health in general. Consider the effect of visually conditioning people to appreciate health promoting foods and strongly discouraging them from eating health destroying foods. Because of the industry driven, unethical promotion of sugary, greasy snacks, people think that junk food can be eaten regularly without consequence.
    It is illegal to make statements that might harm the financial interests of industry, however, opposing TV ads depicting similar ingredients prepared in healthy ways without the sugar and grease can be run in succession to the offending junk food ads.
    So far, the medical industry has not publicly recognized the connection between the intestinal yeast related epidemic of Candida albicans, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and the over-consumption of junk food. We also need to understand that eating sugary food in the morning causes people to crave sugar for the rest of the day. As a population, our choice is to continue eating addictive, sugary, inexpensive junk foods and cereals and paying a huge price to the medical industry, or avoiding many health problems by spending more on diets of adequate protein, vitamin and mineral containing vegetables, whole grains and beans. Public education and visual conditioning via television ads supported by consumer protection groups, political action committees, nurses groups and etc. may be the best choice we have.
    Sincerely, John Scatchard