Thursday, July 14, 2011

Milking PMS

Have you seen the new milk ad? Since I don't have television I haven't seen it but there sure seems to be a lot of talk about it in the blogoshpere.
Apparently, the ad is trying to make a connection between PMS and the hormone heavy milk on our market shelves. Or maybe not. I don't think the California Milk Processors Board (CMPB) would be happy to let people know how much crap is in their milk.

Thanks to Monsanto, most dairy cattle are given recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) or recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), both of which are an artificial growth hormone. So is the CMPB saying that growth hormones will help the symptoms of PMS? Probably not but they should have thought about this campaign and its consequences ahead of time.

Of course, consumers do have a choice and there are several dairy producers that do not give their dairy cattle growth hormones and buying dairy from these producers sends a message. Voting with your dollar is much more effective than most boycotts or petition campaigns.

Better yet, there are several "milk" alternatives on the market. My personal favorites are Good Karma Organic Whole Grain Ricemilk (they now have frozen confections too) and Pacific Foods Organic Almond Milk. Both of these products are delicious and although they don't taste like milk they sure fit the bill and you won't miss that load of heart clogging cholesterol one little bit.

My utopian milk ad would be one that warns the public about not only artificial growth hormones but also the appalling treatment of dairy cattle. Perhaps a small child holding a carton of rice milk and petting a calf with the cow in the background happily munching on grass with the words "compassion over consumption" and "no growth hormones in MY milk" drifting across the screen and flashes of disturbing images of the true condition of dairy cattle. A bit over the top? Maybe so but I think it might be effective.  Compassion over consumption is my next bumper sticker.

As far as PMS cures go, one friend said sex or masturbation helped her. Sounds like a fun cure to me! Mayoclinic.com has several natural remedies and lots of information about PMS. The symptoms of PMS on mayoclinic.com are similar to menopause...go figure. Maybe the CMPB will come up with a new ad for people like me who are in the throes of menopause, "Woman drugs man and cuts off his penis". Oh, I see that this happened recently. Perhaps milk would have saved him?






Thursday, July 7, 2011

Why Another Blog?

I decided to call my new blog home Bleeding Heart NWA because I am a bleeding heart liberal, bleeding heart vegetarian, bleeding heart animal lover and bleeding heart sentimentalist. Having been a liberal thinking person for all of my adult life, that philosophy led to my becoming a vegetarian in my early twenties and to working in the veterinary field in my early thirties. 

As a liberal I believe we have a duty to take care of not only every human being, but of every living creature and thing. As a vegetarian I believe we have a duty to stop killing animals for food; there are too many other food choices and eating animals is bad for the environment. As an animal lover I believe we have a duty to treat all animals humanely and care for them if they are in our lives. One of my favorite quotes is "if you can't afford the vet, don't get the pet" (thanks to my friend Julie for that one).

My intention is not to preach but to write about all things compassionate and positive. I am prone to cynicism and negativity and hope this experiment will help change the way I see life. I'll save the cynicism for my other blog.