Ben and Jerry’s Ice Scam
Ben and Jerry have carved out quite a reputation for themselves by not only making ice cream, but also trying to make environmental policy. A small, but very loud, team of “Green” folks have joined their band wagon to spread the Good News. Included in this illustrious crowd are Jeremy Rifkin, noted eco-terrorist and “scientific” luddite, and Jerry Garcia, long known for his sensible approach to achieving long life.
Ben and Jerry’s big project these days is to bring an end to high tech dairy farming. The issue they have focused on is recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbSTP).
This growth hormone is used to increase milk production in dairy cows. It augments the natural bovine growth hormone, and is indistinguishable from it. Milk and meat from treated cows are safe for human and adult consumption. There is no greater prevalence of disease, including mastitis, among treated cows. The increased production allows dairy herds to be smaller, which would decrease the environmental impact of dairy farming.
Consider a simple example. Dairy herds generate sizable quantities of methane gas. Methane is an important greenhouse gas and may contribute to global warming. (Incidently, global warming is another favorite Ben and Jerry issue. Their stance on rbSTP puts them in an awkward contradictory position which they don’t talk about.)
Ben and Jerry provide page after page of “proof” that rbSTP is bad for cows and bad for humans. These pages contain isolated examples and anecdotal evidence. They have been nonetheless successful. At least two states have now banned milk products from cows treated with rbSTP. After all, who would want to take a position contrary to the immensely popular Jerry Garcia?
Well, actually, an increasingly large group has done exactly that. Among others are included
- American Medical Association,
- Food and Drug Association, and
- American Academy of Pediatrics.
The real issue here is the same one that is common to so many of today’s “environmental” issues. It is a yearning for the “Good Old Days.” (Most of the people that yearn for the Good Old Days are too young to have known them.)
There is no fundamental difference between making rbSTP and counting peas in the fashion of Gregor Mendel. The entire history of farming is one of constantly selecting the best. (Do you think the dairy cows that Ben and Jerry find acceptable look anything at all like their ancestors from even a couple hundred years ago?)
Let Ben and Jerry make ice cream. But don’t let them make environmental policy.