Dissing the Dirt
In the most recent edition of the Pacific Sun, your Dirt Diva makes several totally untrue statements. First of all, antibiotic-resistant foods are not “killing people” around the world. That’s simply untrue. Regardless of any profit motive any malevolent corporation might have, there are plenty of journalists who’d love to jump all over a story like this. Why have there been no credible reports of such things from reliable and authoritative sources? Because they haven’t happened. Personally I do worry a great deal about the American practice of stuffing animals with antibiotics because of the danger of breeding “superbugs,” but making false claims will only weaken our argument against such practices. Hysteria and hyperbole have no place in effecting change for the better.
Likewise your correspondent claims that “organic food has … more macro- and micro-nutrients.” Once again this is factually untrue.
We live in a world of people making shrill, baseless assertions to promote their cause. But positive change doesn’t come from scaremongering, false claims, or any other sloppy journalistic behavior. At Pacific Sun you should be far more careful in verifying claims prior to publication, unless you’re content to have your paper regarded in the same light as the National Enquirer.
Allan M Lees, Marin
