(page404)

Writer Daria MonDesire is the latest journalist to take a swipe at restaurants. In the USA Today, she says, "We are killing ourselves with food. We are committing mass suicide on a scale that makes Jonestown seem like a mere burp." And she calls fast-food employees "perky agent[s] of ill health.

On the heels of their controversial "Got beer?" campaign, PETA has produced an anti-dairy parody of the milk-carton campaign to find missing children. Their contemptible new campus ads feature a "missing" veal calf on a carton of milk, in a pitch that unjustly disses both meat and dairy consumption.

Greenpeace is boxing-in Tony the Tiger again. Five trespassing demonstrators unfurled a banner at Kellogg’s Cereal City Theme Park in Battle Creek saying, “Stop Feeding FrankenFood to America’s Kids.”…

Greenpeace, the Science and Environmental Health Network, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Consumers’ Union, and most of the usual nanny suspects are renewing their call for world…

Terrorists from the Upper Midwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (GrainRAGE) are taking responsibility for blocking the entrance to Cargill's headquarters for several hours on Tuesday. Protestors at the scene baselessly blamed the agribusiness company for all sorts of supposed agricultural woes. GrainRAGE describes itself as a group of people "who promote small scale organic agriculture and self-sufficiency by attacking corporate agribusiness and all forms of biotechnology."

Eco-terrorists at the Animal Liberation Front have confessed to a rash of arsons, including the firebombing of a meat plant, in the San Francisco Bay area in recent months. The Foundation for Biomedical Research quotes ALF spokesperson David Barbarash as saying, "Whoever these ALF activists are, they're doing a damn fine job of inflicting economic damages to these companies, and they should be rewarded for their courage and bravery!"

In addressing New York Times' readers concerns about food safety and pesticides, food columnist Marion Burros relies on data from the junk science panic-mongers at the Environmental Working Group. Asking them about pesticides is equivalent to asking Ingrid Newkirk of PETA to help you pick out a new fur coat!

Ignoring the fact that repeated FDA testing has found that GE foods are perfectly safe and do not need labels, fifty of the usual nanny suspects have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration, demanding it adopt new safety precautions and mandatory labeling for genetically engineered foods.

In endorsing yesterday's "Great American Meatout Day," Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon asked Hoosiers to "explore a wholesome diet of whole grains, vegetables and fresh fruit." Not only is he off-base impugning meat as not wholesome, O'Bannon's oblivious to the positive impact cattle-raising and corn-fed cattle have on his state. (Indianapolis Star, "Read All About It!")

Syndicated columnist Mona Charen joins a growing chorus of journalists, activists and public officials blaming restaurants for the obesity epidemic. "Restaurants have been steadily increasing portion sizes to the point where a small elephant would be satisfied with the fare at most chains... The Great American Lunch -- a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke -- probably contains more calories than most people need for an entire day and enough fat to last a week." (Washington Times, "Weighed Debate on Dieting")