After casting her ballot for Barack Obama, Amanda Jones said simply, "I feel good about voting for him." Ms. Jones, of Cedar Creek, Texas (a town just south of Austin), is African-American, and what gives her vote some historic punch is that she's 109 years old. Her father was a slave. Her mother was born right after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. She's been through it all--Jim Crow segregation, women's suffrage, the Great Depression, the poll tax, FDR, the civil-rights movement, desegregation, 13 years of George W (five as guv, eight as prez), and now: Barack Obama. This last change fills her with joy, she says.
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NestlÉ's recipe for trouble
My momma used to tell me: "Don't put anything in your mouth unless you know where it came from."
Good advice, yet many mothers today are unwitt-ingly putting something in the mouths of their babies without realizing where it comes from. That something is infant formula made by Nestlé Inc. under such brand names as Alsoy, Good Start, and Follow-Up. What Nestlé doesn't tell mothers is that these products are made from soybeans that have been genetically engineered.
Such biotech manipulation of the genetic make-up of soybeans has not been tested for its long-term impact on human health, and there is no monitoring program in place to detect health problems that Nestlé's Franken-foods might cause. Yet Nestlé has fought every effort to require labeling and inform American moms, so they can decide for themselves whether to put this stuff in their babies' mouths.
Nestlé agreed in 1996 to quit using genetically engineered ingredients in the infant food it sells in Europe. Why not do the same here?
Nestlé declares in corporate-speak that the company is "providing our consumers in each market with the products they want and with the information they need." Earth to Nestlé: If you don't provide the info, how do you know we want the product?
A citizens group has launched a campaign calling on Nestlé to stop messing with babies. To join this effort, go to their website: www.ecopledge.com.