...................STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann,

 UNL Extension Educator,

 Webster County

September 29, 2011 Edition
As I write this column there is a lot of hype in the newspapers, radio, TV and even the coffee shops about the first game that our Nebraska Cornhuskers will be playing within the Big 10 Conference on October 1. Ironically the game is at Madison, Wisconsin and it is against the University of Wisconsin Badgers. I have to admit that I wasn’t all that familiar with their school or even the nickname of their mascot. To be honest I kind of thought that their mascot would be a big chunk of cheese or at least a big Holstein cow in reference to the Dairy State. I do know that when I have watched them on TV that you see a lot of “Cheeseheads” in the crowd. Now to be fair we of course have a lot of “Cornheads” frequenting the crowds at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln too. It is of course all in good fun, a part of college football.
Now it is taking on a completely different tenor and the timing couldn’t be better. If you have read my columns in the past you will remember that I don’t have much use for a group that is falsely called and misnamed “Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine or PCRM”. I have long insisted that the PCRM is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. They are nothing more than a fanatical animal rights group that seeks to remove eggs, milk, meat, and even seafood from the American diet, and to eliminate the use of animals in scientific research. Despite its operational and financial ties to other animal activist groups and its close relationship with violent zealots, PCRM has successfully duped the media and much of the general public into believing that its pronouncements about the superiority of vegetarian-only diets represent the opinion of the medical community. They even come on TV ads in doctor’s white lab coat. The American Medical Association (AMA), which actually represents the medical profession, has called PCRM a “fringe organization” that uses “unethical tactics” and is “interested in perverting medical science.” Most of PCRM’s money comes from a single wealthy animal-rights activist in Florida not from dues paying members of the medical profession.
Furthermore, less than 10 percent of PCRM’s members are actually physicians. While PCRM presents itself as a doctor-supported, unbiased source of health guidance, the group’s own literature actually admits 90 percent or more of its members have no medical degrees. And even the five to ten-percent doctor membership that PCRM claims is open to question. Anyone claiming to be a physician or a medical student can join without paying a dime. It is hard for me to understand why a lot of people including the media put any credence into this group. PCRM several months ago, in an article in the Lincoln Journal Star lambasted agricultural subsidies in a piece entitled “Agricultural Subsidies Tax Our Health”. It was written by Neal Barnard who is the president of this organization. They are interested in only one thing and that is a Vegan Society.
You might ask, “What has that got to do with Wisconsin and Cheeseheads?” Well their agenda is now in full display and it happens to be in Wisconsin. This Vegan group put up a billboard in Wisconsin featuring the Grim Reaper wearing a Cheesehead. While I hope that is not going to be an omen for our Husker football team, the obvious message is that the Dairy State’s most notable and tastiest food product is a secret killer – Cheese! Oh my, another provocative billboard meant to beat people over the head with the vegan agenda? Where have we seen that before? Perhaps PETA or HSUS? I wonder if all of these groups are in collusion together. I can tell you one thing - it validates the efforts of several of our state’s Chambers of Commerce, our State Senators, and even our Governor to work to keep these groups out of our state!
In my mind PCRM is really nothing more than PETA’s lab-coated sibling or HSUS’s ugly stepchild. In actuality, PCRM president Neal Barnard is a former science advisor for PETA and used to run the PETA Foundation (now the Foundation to Support Animal Protection). Barnard has upped the ante in Wisconsin. He has actually called cheese “dairy crack” and “the purest form of the [milk] drug.” He also writes, “To give a child animal products is a form of child abuse.”. Unfortunately a lot of our school districts across America have bought into this bunk and are systematically removing milk and milk products from their school menus. That is a whole other story we may have to look at some time.
I would love to be a mouse in the corner of the coffee shop where Wisconsin dairy farmers meet. I bet they would love to have a few words with this guy and his group. Fortunately the group was taken to task as the Wisconsin company (Foamation) that owns the rights to the foam derived cheesehead hats, threatened legal action and PCRM quickly changed the billboard. The anti-cheese billboard is still up…but without the cheesehead! PRCM planned to place a billboard along a main route to Lambeau Field where the Packers play --showing the Grim Reaper wearing a “cheesehead “with the words: “Warning, cheese can sack your health.” I think PRCM is the one that got sacked. The billboard went up OK but…minus the cheesehead. A picture of the billboard with the cheesehead still appears on the PCRM website, but Foamation’s attorney is working on getting that one removed as well. You can find more at: www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/130556058.html/.
PCRM got some media attention, but will such a stupid stunt in Wisconsin really resonate with people? I would bet that it’ll have the same effect as most PETA campaigns—between zero and none. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wisconsinites react by offering a lot of ice cream, cheese and milk at Saturday night’s football game. I would also bet that Husker fans will be right with them. Nacho’s with cheese anyone? Go Huskers! Beat the Cheeseheads---umm Badgers!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/ome