Strollerderby : milk

Sixth Grader's Project on Harvey Milk Banned by School

JeanneSager — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:01:00 GMT

Natalie Jones just wanted to get a good grade on her sixth grade project. She didn't know writing about Harvey Milk, a person she said stood up for all people regardless of their backgrounds, was going to make schools officials pull out their "sex education" policies.

Maybe because she's in sixth grade, and she wasn't writing about sex?

The California sixth grader was yanked into the principal's office the day before her Power Point present was slated to be given in class, and complimented by the administrator for doing high school quality work. A backhanded compliment, apparently, because the principal then informed Natalie she was probably not going to be making the presentation the following day.

"She explained to me because he was a gay, that not maybe all the parents might agree with their kid watching that," Jones said in an interview with CNN.

OK, better to pretend the gays just don't exist then? Because, as Natalie's mother, Bonnie, pointed out - this was a project on a man's life. It wasn't about gay sex. Natalie picked the state's first openly gay politician to profile after watching the Sean Penn Academy Award-winning movie (named Milk, by the way, if you've been hiding under a rock and haven't heard about it). She said it's because "he stood for all minorities, no matter what you were." See, nothing about sex, folks.

And that's where Mt. Woodson Elementary School really got this one wrong. Because they picked on a kid talking about a homosexual person not only as though that were something bad but as if that's all he was. Yes, Harvey Milk was openly gay and did a lot for gay rights. But he was also a politician in California. A pretty famous one. And this is a California student writing about an influential figure for a report for a California school.

So they're not only teaching kids that they discriminate against homosexuals and encouraging discrimination, but they're teaching them how to pigeonhole people based upon one part of their life.

The ACLU is demanding an apology from the school district, by the way, and has threatened to file a lawsuit.

Image: Amazon

Breast Milk Cupcakes

Brett Singer — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:00:00 GMT

I was more skeptical of this one then I was of the snow ice cream. What would inspire someone to do this? (Other than needing something to bring to a La Leche meeting, I mean. I kid.)

Curiosity I suppose. But according to Viceland (note: the site has language and images that are not safe for work, click the "source" link below if you're OK with that), these made with mommy milk cakes are quite tasty. In fact, in a taste test, they beat out cupcakes made from cow's milk.

A comedian whose name I can't recall once wondered about the first person who thought it would be a good idea to milk a cow. "Hey, look at those things hanging down underneath Bessie. I wonder if liquid comes out when I squeeze them. It does! Hey, I wonder if I can drink it? I can! Clem! C'mere, check this out!" Or eggs. "Look what came out of that chicken. I wonder if it would if the goopy stuff inside of it would taste good fried and served with grits. Mmmm. Clem! Get back out here!"

When you look at it that way, breast milk cupcakes don't sound nearly as weird. (Actually, lots of people question whether or not cow's milk is something humans should be putting in their bodies. But that's another topic.)

I always wanted to try breast milk while my wife was nursing. It felt somehow wrong, though. Like it wasn't mine to eat, y'know? I did taste a teeny bit when I was warming up a bottle, and if I recall correctly it was kind of salty.

We had a freezer full of milksicles at one point. I never realized that this was a tasty frozen treat.

Has anyone ever tried cupcakes, or any other food, made with breast milk? Would you?

Source: Viceland via Buzzfeed

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Did Salma Hayek’s Breastfeeding an African Child Mean the End of Man’s Inhumanity to Man?

Cole Gamble — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:00:00 GMT

If you’ve read The Grapes of Wrath, you’ll remember the book ends with Rose of Sharon Joad, still grieving her stillborn baby, breastfeeding a starving man. Any English teacher will tell you by having Rose of Sharon give of her most valuable gift after all the tragedy she’d endured, Steinbeck is commenting on man’s capacity to extend humanity to his fellow man in even the bleakest of circumstances and how collective sharing is the only way out of despair.

So here’s my question, is Salma Hayek much of a reader?

Much has been made about Hayek’s breastfeeding of a starving African child, an action that seemed more impulsive than premeditated. The lovely Ada wrote a piece at Time noting Hayek’s action might bring about a change of perception about breastfeeding in Africa, where men denounce it because it interferes with their sex life.

Could Hayek’s action also be the first symbolic salvo in America’s commitment to Africa’s future? (Yes, I am aware Hayek is not American, whatever) Many critics accuse our country of doing too little to help the depressed people of Africa, and those critics are likely right. One of my favorite examples is how the Bush administration planned to tackle the AIDs epidemic in Africa by giving the people abstinence training (guess no one told Bush a big source of AIDS spreading in Africa is rape. Why won’t those darn rapists just abstain?) Forgive me for making a somewhat stretch literary analogy, but the Salma Hayek BFing incident conjured The Grapes of Wrath to my mind and made me think that perhaps in the new administration we will take a more active role in helping Africans out of the horrors they face every day.

Too much of a stretch??

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The Problem with Testing for Food Allergies

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:30:00 GMT

It turns out you may not need to buy that expensive hypoallergenic formula after all. After years of steadily rising allergies in kids, pediatricians are beginning to acknowledge that it might be the allergy tests, not the food, that’s the problem.

The rise in false allergy diagnoses is due to a little something called modern convenience. (Speed coming at the price of accuracy? No!) Instead of administering lengthy food challenges—in which doctors watch children consume a whole variety of foods—most doctors now test for allergies by giving kids a blood test for certain antibodies. The problem is that this test falsely identifies allergies more than half of the time.

Given this finding and other studies that have linked early peanut exposure to a lower allergy risk, doctors’ groups are considering revising allergy guidelines to encourage parents to introduce high-risk foods like peanuts and shellfish earlier rather than later.

In the meantime, parents may need to start relying more heavily on the only tried-and-true allergy test there is: if your kid can eat it, he’s not allergic.

Photo: MSNBC

Smackdown: Breastfeeding -- Why Not?

Brett Singer — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:15:00 GMT

Cole challenged me to a Smackdown on breastfeeding, and of course I said yes. I never back down from a challenge, at least not one as harmless as a blog face off. (In other words, don't challenge me to get in the ring with Mike Tyson. That, I will decline.)

Breastfeeding is a controversial subject, but it wasn't always. Back in the day (as in, black and white televisions, Uncle Milty, etc.) many women took a pill to dry up their milk ducts. They didn't feel guilty about it, and those children grew up to live happy lives despite being denied breast milk.

There was also a point in our history when women didn't have the right to vote. In other words, times change. We've learned a lot about human health, and there is definitely evidence that breast milk CAN be good for your kids. Is it conclusive? No. So what? If you are able to breastfeed, isn't it worth the potential benefits?

Now for some specifics:

1. The Guilt Factor: No disagreement here. It's wrong to bully a woman, especially a new mother. However, let us not ignore…

2. The Laziness Factor: There are a number of reasons why some women don't breastfeed their kids. I've heard at least one new mom who said that breastfeeding her child made her feel "gross"; she had no problems with her child latching on, she just didn't like having a baby suckling at her "teet." It made her, "feel like a mammal." When someone says that, I want to ask them a simple question: If you are able to do something that has potential health benefits for your child, why wouldn't you? If you can't breastfeed, you can't breastfeed. But if you tried once and just bailed, that seems like a cop-out. Some of the La Leche people may be a little nuts, but many lactation counselors are very good at what they do. If you have trouble with latching or other breastfeeding issues, it's worth trying a counselor just for the potential health benefits.

3. Expressed Milk in a Bottle: Cole, I love ya, but sometimes I wonder if you've been sipping from a different type of bottle. (A glass one. Filled with bourbon.) Who says that expressed breast milk is a bad thing? As I understand it, the debate is usually between breast milk and formula. And I have yet to see a study that says formula is undeniably better for the child. At best, some say that breast milk may not have the benefits that some claim. Which brings us to the next point:

4. "No Proof That Breast Feeding is Healthier": Is there proof that it's harmful? There is certainly evidence that breast milk is good for babies. Again, why not give it to your children if you can? There was a time when doctors said that smoking was healthy. Look at how that turned out.

5. Formulas Aren't Perfect Either: I haven’t done extensive research but I know that whenever there is a product that is mass-produced, there is the potential for problems. Remember the Chinese milk recall? Ever heard of a breast milk recall? I didn't think so.

There's a difference between "can't" and "won't." No one should be bullied into breastfeeding (sorry, La Leche). But if you won't even try because you just don't want to, or you feel like you want to "rebel" against the "breastfeeding nazis", maybe you should rethink your position. Cole is right -- you shouldn't do anything JUST because of peer pressure. But if everyone isn't jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, that doesn't mean you should. (Think about it for a minute, I'm pretty sure it makes sense.)

Read Cole's take on the matter here.

Read Madeline's take on the matter here. (And I didn't say that ALL women who don't breastfeed are lazy. I mean, c'mon.)

What do you think? I'm right and he's wrong, yes? (Even if you think I'm wrong, let us know in the comments.)

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NY Proposes Taxing Non-Diet Soda

Miriam Axel-Lute — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

OK Gov. Paterson: I know you've got a wicked budget hole, and we all have to "share the pain." I also know that this country has a severe health crisis with escalating rates of diabetes, heart disease, etc. and that soda and related sugar-water drinks (or, more specifically, high-fructose-corn-syrup drinks) are bad for us and our kids.

But can we work through a few of the logical problems with your proposed "obesity tax" here?

1. It only applies to "nondiet" sodas (and fake juice drinks), thereby giving the implicit healthy stamp of approval to "diet" drinks full of artificial sweeteners, which cause many people a wide range of health problems, from dizziness to migraines, while to others they just taste gross. They also interfere with efforts to adjust to a healthier, lower-sugar diet. Not to mention that carbonated diet sodas still are acidic enough to eat away at kids teeth and still don't hydrate like water or provide nutrients like milk. Remember also that soda—diet and nondiet—is also a major source of people's caffeine fixes (and young kids having caffeine worries me more than their having sugar, frankly).

Basically, this just shows the folly of trying to decide on high what's healthy for people: it varies. I have some extremely health-conscious friends whose son is super allergic to tons of things—so right now he's eating a lot of Fritos (all corn, no cross-contamination). If you tried to tax "junk food," for example, you'd be hitting them hard.

2. Like any sales tax, this going to fall most heavily on the poor, who buy a lot of soda often because it's what's sold at the corner store. Study after study has shown that living in a "food desert" is a primary cause of unhealthy eating choices. Without changing that, adding a tax is like raising the gas tax without investing in public transportaiton. (If the tax is high enough to make bodega owners stock healthier drinks instead, we might see some benefit, but I'm skeptical.)

3. Recent studies have shown that it's possible to be both fat and fit. You say you don't want to make kids feel bad for being overweight. So don't. Instead encourage the good stuff, which is what will really make the difference: access to healthy food and drink, enough sleep, and exercise (recess! later school start times! healthy foods in schools! walking and biking to school!). I know that won't balance the budget. I'm sorry.

Photo by Qfamily.

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In Mumbai, Italian Faces Terrorists to Bring Milk to His Baby

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:30:00 GMT

In the midst of phenomenally tragic situations, it helps to focus on happy stories within the larger horror. An Italian named Emanuele Lattanzi was at the center of one of these small but paramount triumphs a few days ago, when he faced gunmen in order to rescue his wife and baby girl from the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai.

Lattanzi, a chef working in the hotel kitchen, was evacuated out of an emergency exit with other restaurant staff as soon as terrorists stormed the building. But his wife and six-month-old daughter were trapped in their hotel room.

For the next two days, Lattanzi was powerless to get to his family, as soldiers would not let anyone through. But he communicated with his wife via cell phone, and when he learned that she had no milk left for the baby by day two of the siege, he was determined to reach her and his daughter with some powdered milk.

Finally, soldiers gave in to his pleas, escorting him to the door of his hotel room, where he remained with his family until soldiers had killed all of the gunmen. He brought his daughter to a pediatrician, where she was pronounced unharmed.

Lattanzi has rightly been hailed the "hero cook" by every major Italian newspaper.

Photo: Herald Sun

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Breaking News: Cadbury chocolate made in China recalled

Brett Singer — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:15:00 GMT

The AP is reporting that Cadbury is "recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates after tests found they contained the industrial chemical melamine." This follows the recall of tainted milk powder in China.

AND, according to Newsinferno.com, a specific candy made by Cadbury called "White Rabbit" has been found to contain Melamine, the substance that cause more than 50,000 children to fall ill in China. The candy has been "distributed to California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington state through wholesale distributors to retail stores."

Before you say what I said ("Newsinferno? What's that?"), here's a link to the FDA's press release about the recall.

Newsinferno also reports that, "Pizza Hut suspended supplying cheese powder found to be contaminated by melamine in Pizza Hut’s Taiwan branch." Unless you happen to be in Taiwan, this one is pretty easy to avoid, but the White Rabbit stuff sounds like it could be in your local candy shoppe. Plus there are 11 other varieties, such as Eclairs (sold in Australia). So be careful.

But wait! There's more! According to Wikipedia, this White Rabbit stuff was recalled last year in the Philippines because it contained formaldehyde. Yum!

Anyone else in the mood for some good news? Like, "Field of unicorns found frolicking in Central Park, film at 11"? Sorry, I made that one up. Sounds good though, right?

Sources: CBS News/AP, Newsinferno.com, Sydney Morning Herald, Wikipedia (also image)

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Mother's Milk - Good Enough for Ben, but What About Jerry?

JeanneSager — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:52:00 GMT

Oh, that PETA, always thinking. Not necessarily thinking what you or I would think, but hey . . . the Norfolk, Va.-based group that's made meat-eaters everywhere look at me like I'm about to whip the prime rib off their plate and beat them with it has turned their eyes to the frozen north. Well, to Vermont, the home of two fat guys who make moms cream. No really, they do - Ben and Jerry make ice cream. Pervert.

I blame my failed attempts to make the leap from vegetarian to vegan on these guys, but PETA was trying to give me a way out. Hey, don't use cow's milk, they said, use mom's! Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for pint after decadent pint (700 gallons per hour), um, how?

PETA Vice President Tracy Reiman was touting the story of the Swiss restaurateur Sunny offered up on the 'derby last week - the guy who's trying, and failing to convince the Swiss government he can make high-priced sauces from breastmilk. That story was just plain icky. This one is just plain stupid!

If you take out the ick factor and somehow thought millions of Americans would actually buy something made by a woman's body SPECIFICALLY for her infant, how many moms do you know who'd be stepping up to the plate to replace the hundreds of small family farms currently sell the old-fashioned moo juice to the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery in St. Ablans, Vt.? I can hear them now, "Don't worry honey, I don't need to give my child nutrients and antibodies, they can gum a pint of Cherry Garcia."

And don't even get me started on the excruciating pain any mom goes through when her kid decides to sleep through the normal feeding time and that milk starts backing up . . . guess what, that happens to a cow too! So when you don't milk her, you're actually hurting the poor animal. But wait a minute, I thought PETA was all for the ethical treatment of animals? Yup, at PETA they're always thinking.

Ben and Jerry, by the way, both said no, although they too think "breast is best." For humans.

Get a look at the transcription of the letter from PETA Vice President Tracy Reiman.

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UPDATE: Tainted Milk Tally tops 50,000

Brett Singer — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:00:00 GMT

An update to the tainted milk story from VOANews.com:

China is vowing to stop tainted milk from reaching export markets, amid a growing scandal...Four Chinese infants have already died from drinking toxic milk products and more than 53,000 others have been made sick...The widening scandal has already claimed resignations from several officials, including Li Changjiang, the head of China's top quality inspection agency.

Apparently this was a known problem for eight months before anyone did anything about it.

53,000 kids sick? Nasty.

Original post follows.

*-*-*-*-*

The number of children affected by a dangerous chemical in certain brands of Chinese-made baby formula is going up. CNN is reporting that more than 13,000 children in China have been, "sickened by tainted milk."

The details are even worse: four babies have died, and a 3-year-old girl in Hong Kong was hospitalized after drinking the tainted formula. The little girl was released, but this means that the illnesses are no longer isolated to Mainland China.

AND: "In addition, nearly 40,000 other infants and young children have received outpatient medical treatment and consultation as a result of the tainted milk," according to Xinhua, China's state-run news agency.

The issue, according to published reports, is that the formula contains a chemical called melamine, which is a "key ingredient in most fire retardant materials." In other words, not something anyone should be eating.

Full details are on CNN.com.

A reader emailed to ask if we knew whether or not any U.S. formula brands were affected. We do not. That's not to say that there is any reason to think that there IS a problem with any U.S. baby formulas; as far as I know (the key words there are "as far as I know") there have been no recalls or reports of infants becoming sick from baby formula in the United States. Still, I would be very careful with any formula that you buy, especially if you have any reason to believe it was manufactured in China. To clarify: we are NOT saying that you should avoid any brand of baby formula, we are only telling you what CNN has reported. There has been some concern that boxes of Sanlu-brand formula may be on store shelves in Chinese grocery stores in the United States; more details are here.

Source: CNN
Image: china.org.cn

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They say: Chinese baby formula is dangerous

Brett Singer — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:30:00 GMT

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a waning about baby formula made in China. These products are illegal in the U.S., but the FDA fears that some bottles may have found their way onto store shelves in Chinese neighborhoods.

Before I start a worldwide panic, let me point out that the FDA also said, "There is no threat of contamination in the domestic supply of infant formula." So you can give your little one good ol' U.S. baby formula (provided there are no La Leche people nearby – ba dum bum.)

According to Chinese officials, "contaminants were found in Sanlu-brand milk formula," which, "killed one baby and caused kidney stones in dozens of others who may have drunk the same product." A recall of the product was issued in China on August 6.

The FDA...said agency officials were concerned the Chinese formula may be tainted with melamine, the contaminant found in pet food ingredients from China and linked to the deaths and illnesses of hundreds of cats and dogs in 2007.

Bad stuff. If this formula is on sale in the U.S., or anyplace else, I hope it gets pulled from the shelves.

Source: Reuters
Image: china.org.cn

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Is Soy Milk or Cow’s Milk More Eco-Conscious?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:24:00 GMT

Knowing that soybeans are genetically modified and often have to travel vast distances before ending up in milk cartons in my supermarket, I sometimes wonder whether it would be better for the environment to buy local organic cow’s milk.

It’s always a relief when an environmental question such as this has a definite answer. And in this case, Slate’s Green Lantern clearly comes down on the side of soy milk over cow’s milk as the more eco-friendly option.

The Lantern points out the it takes 14 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce one calorie of milk protein on a conventional farm, with that ratio being about 10 to 1 on an organic farm. One calorie of soybeans, on the other hand, only requires .26 calories of fossil fuels, and their production emits significantly less greenhouse gasses than producing cow’s milk.

Since I find cow's milk mildly nauseating, as far as I'm concerned this is one convenient truth.

Photo: Food Blogga

Fear of plastic + timing = big bucks

Brett Singer — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Interesting article over on Forbes.com about the BornFree people. Turns out they not only make the bottles, they help make sure that people know how dangerous the BPA-filled versions are.

Apparently, when BornFree began back in 2006, very few people cared about BPA. So what does a dadpreneur (that's a dad entepreneur – see how dumb it sounds?) do? Make sure that everyone knows how bad plastic is. According to Forbes, BornFree's President Ron Vigdor "sometimes exaggerates when comparing bisphenol A-free bottles to polycarbonate versions. 'One is with arsenic, one without. Which one would you like to buy?'"

So what's wrong with that?

It makes me wonder how many supposedly dangerous things are the result of hype rather than fact. I'm not saying BPA-free bottles are a bad thing, or that Bisphenol-A isn't harmful. I have no idea. I'm not taking a side, and if people would rather use BPA-free bottles, I think it's great that they have the opportunity to do so. But think about it this way: if you have a product that you think meets a need, and nobody seems to care, how far do you go to create that need? Are you doing the world a favor or just making a quick buck? Or both? Does anyone have a problem with that? How many question marks can I use in a single post?

image: Amazon.com

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Once Upon a Time, Boobies Weren't Bad

Kelly Mills — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:34:00 GMT

Apparently when Facebook banned photos of breastfeeding women, they were just following a grand old tradition. Utne reports that late medieval and Renaissance art often showed the Virgin Mary nursing the baby Jesus. Perhaps as long as nipple wasn't visible, it was okay. Oh, and the breast was supposed to represent God's love, and the milk salvation. Nowadays we are "enlightened" enough to know that the boob is porno and any milk transactions better happen under a big nursing cover, only son of God or not.

So what happened? Oh you know, by 1750 breasts were taboo, and the crucifixion scene became the more dominant symbol in art. Hey, at least you know when someone tries to sell you a holy relic--the blanket Mary used to cover Jesus when she nursed--it's probably bogus. And nice to think that we are more prudish in some ways than medieval folks.

Via the ever-wonderful Jezebel.