retorts on lunches
As communications director for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, I want to make it clear that our organization did not write the letter criticized by David Martosko ["Astroturf letter on school lunches, 2/7/10"]. We do have a Web site that promotes healthful school lunches, including vegetarian options. Our doctors and dietitians support meals rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, because evidence clearly shows that these foods help children stay healthy.
I'm not surprised that Martosko is unhappy with our work to improve school lunches. His employer, the so-called Center for Consumer Freedom, has been exposed in The Washington Post as a front group that has taken millions of dollars from companies that market fast food, soda and other unhealthy products. The group has attacked virtually every public health advocate in America, from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to our organization, which has more than 9,000 physician members.
The American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association and many other concerned organizations have gone on record in support of vegetarian school lunch options. That may not please the companies funding Martosko, but it reflects the overwhelming evidence that meatless meals offer a powerful prescription for health. For more information about our campaign, go to HealthySchoolLunches.org.
PATRICK SULLIVAN
The writer is communications director for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C.
Klan rally?
Is it a tea party, or a Klan rally?
What it really is anti-Obama. For reasons not clear, these people are blaming Obama for all Americas woe's. Where were these people the eight years George Bush was ruining this country?
When Bill Clinton left office, he handed George Bush a great economy with no debts. America was like beauty queen. When Bush left office, he gave Obama a fast fading country, a massive debt, a pig with a tube of lip stick. Now the tea-party-goers blame Obama for not producing a beauty queen.
If this were the 1920s the tea party convention would in fact be a Klan rally with burning crosses. To top all this their key note speaker is Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska. She quit that job, because she caused too much distraction to the office. I think she quit because the pay was to little, compared to what she makes with the book she hacked out -- a book that blames others for her failures. I equate Palin to the television evangelist that conned money from the misinformed that wanted to buy a place in heaven.
J. ALBRIGHT
Hillsborough
