4
—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 17,1971
Animal Vs. Vegetable Fats
The highly respected dairy publication,
Hoard’s Dairyman, has editorially made
the following clear-cut call for a look at the
record on the question of animal versus
vegetable fats:
At a table next to us in a restaurant re
cently, we overheard two well-to-do Ohio
couples “hoping” the spread on the table
was margarine rather than butter. From
their conversation, they obviously had been
indoctrinated by American Heart Associa
tion propaganda.
The incident sent us steaming back to
our desk to dig for more up-to-date informa
tion on what has been happening on the fat
consumption front. Here is what we found;
From 1931 to 1967, the heart disease
death rate in men has gone up from 275 to
362, an increase of 32 percent. (These fig
ures do not agree with others we have seen,
but they were provided by an official in
the National Institutes of Health.)
During the same period of time, per
capita use of butter has dropped 70 percent..
Lard usage has gone down 60 perceift. Com
bined use of butter and lard was DOWN 65
percent.
On the vegetable fat front, oleomargine
use was up 483 percent, shortening up 71
percent, and edible oils climbed 215 percent.
Total per capita usage of vegetable oil pro
ducts was UP 161 percent.
The foregoing figures are for “visible”
fats and oils. How about total consumption,
including fat in milk, meat, eggs, beans,
nuts, and so forth? Data are available only
for the eight-year period from 1959 to 1967.
All butterfat consumption, visible and in
visible, dropped 18 percent. Other animal
fats were down 6 percent for a total animal
fat DECLINE of 10 percent.
On the other hand, total usage of vege
table fats WENT UP 22 percent in this
period. The big boost was in cooking and
salad oils, which climbed 49 percent per
capita. .
We have presented similar data in
years past. To date, we have not had one
exception to them. We did receive one half
apologetic note from a cholesterol faddist
suggesting the real problem was hardened
fats, thus incriminating margarine to some
extent.
But let’s look at that argument. The
combined use of butter, lard, and hardened
(hydrogenated) margarine went down 36
percent from 1931 to 1967.
Letter on Safety
Editor, Lancaster Farming
May I commend you for your article
"On Reducing Farm Accidents” October
24, 1970, in your FARM WEEKLY I es
pecially like the way figures of my study
were interpreted in your article which
would lead to aopropnate action in reduc
ing farm accidents.
Many times in technical writing we pre
sent cold, bare statistics; but unless the sta
tistics are humanized, very little can be
done with the ideas which the statistics pre
sent.
I appreciate the extra effort which your
editors placed on the farm accident article.
Frank Anthony
Penn State University
Associate Professor
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. 0. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office 22 E Mam St, Lititz, Pa. 17543
Phone Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson. Managing Editor
sub c JSg n & r 3LSS yeat ia LMCSSto
Established November 4, 1955
Published evr, v Saturday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa. Lancaster
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa.
Member of Newspaper Farm Editors Assn
Pa Newsnanci Publishes Association, and
National Newspaper Association
But the use of “soft” shortening and
edible oils climbed a whooping 120 percent.
No matter how much we dig into the
record, we can make no sense whatsoever
of the recommendations of the American
Heart Association. Back in 1931, we were
using more butter than the total of all To Be Careful With Fertilizer
shortening and edible oils. Today we use The proper placement of fer
six times as much soft fats and oils as we tilizer in relation to seeds or
use butter. plants is very important The
And the heart disease rate booms. But farmer or gardener should keep
what gets the blame for the soaring heart 11! milKi tl J® t both n l ! tr ° gen
disease rate? Animal fats! Once again, it potash fertilizer, 3 will burn; the
doesn’t make sense phosphate part of a fertilizer, or
aoesn t a e sense. superphosphate, is not danger-
Hoards Dairyman also concludes in a ou * Therefore ’ when any fer .
separate editorial headed Vegetable Oil tilizer containing either nitrogen
Indicted, Not Convicted, on Cancer ; or potash is applied, it should
It is still too early to forecast the full be either to the side of the plant
impact of the Framingham and California or seeds or several inches under
studies on the diet-heart debate. Reason- the planting depth. Seeds or
able persons would assume these two re- plants surrounded by caustic
ports would cool off the cholesterol faddists fertilizer may not grow or
who have been pushing polyunsaturates in germinate, or will be weak and
the public media. But millions have been in- Ir 3 ured
vested in the campaign. To Fertilize Permanent
Further, many men have painted them- Pastures
selves into a corner where their profes- Many progressive dairy and
sional reputations are at stake. A cornered llvest ° producers have con
„ j ~ . ™ verted then permanent pasture
man can admit his error or come out fight- a Jnto * land £ grow
mg with even more vigor. We have seen evi- more corn or forage cropSj there
dence of this already as press reports furth- 1S • bttle doubt that more feed
er criticizing animal fats are appearing nutrients may be produced on
with increasing frequency. In fact, we sus- this land if it is tillable How
pect a well-planned conspiracy is in action e\er, some aieas are suitable
to reduce the impact of the Framingham only for pasture, and in these
study on public opinion. cases, we suggest that the ciop
What should the dairy industry do? In fertilized at least once a year
the past, we have turned the other cheek
rather than give additional publicity to the
diet-heart question.
If, however, the attack against us con
tinues at its current intensity, then we may
have to go to the mat of public opinion and
fight it out in the media. Hopefully, this will
not be necessary if the scientific communi
ty puts enough pressure on the American
Heart Association. But we should be prepar
ed with funds and a well-developed battle
plan
Letter on Tobacco Coop
Editor, Lancaster Farming
The Lancaster County Tobacco Market
ing Cooperative in a recent stockholders
meeting voted to dissolve the organization.
It was organized in 1945 and operated
under federal price control in marketing the
1944 crop. There was a price ceiling of 21
cents per pound. We were allowed to pack
the tobacco and return 3c a pound to the
farmer.
We know some tobacco firms who did
the same which never happened before the
Cooperative was organized.
As stockholders, we must credit much
to S S. Bard. He was one of the men who
led out and worked unceasingly to get the
organization started He later became our
manager and in tnat position put forth un
tiring efforts for its success It was during
his term as manager that the sales floor
was started whereby the farmers could
market their tobacco weekly, which was an
ideal method.
During the 27 years out of 30 years be
fore 1945 prices were less then 20c per
pound. From 1945 - 1950 while the Coopera
tive was operating farmers received from
60c per lb. in the bale to 75c in the cases.
Prices like that to the farmer were never
heard of before.
It would be wrong to claim the Coopera
tive did it all as the general economic condi
tion had its effect. But the Cooperative sure
played a part.
After some years of operation, the farm
ers were influenced by some buyers not to
bring tobacco to the sales floor, promising
them more to sell on the farm.
We then leased our building and re
mained in a standby position.
Later the Farm Bureau, now' Agway
took over and are rendering a marketing
service to the fax'mors.
A Stockholder
WHO IS A PROPHET?
Lesson for April 18, 1971
Background Scripture* Isaiah 6 1-1; Jere
miah 18 18, Hoseo 11,1 1-3; Amos
1 1, 3 1 8, 7 1-15, Micah 3 5-8, He
brews 112 2 Feler 1 20. 21.
Devotional Beading Jeremiah 1 4-12.
No prophet was ever admired
or valued—except posthumously.
A living prophet wins no popu
larity contests No one ever hears
a prophet and tells him that they
“liked” his sermon (unless they
didn’t really understand him)
Celebrated when
they are dead and
gone, prophets
know little else
than rejection in
life.
Though many of
us are quite “up”
in knowing who
were the prophets,
we are not nearly
Rev. Althouse so perceptive rn
deciding who are the prophets
among us today. This is not a
new phenomenon, for men have
always had this difficulty. Who is
a prophet?
A man like Amos
Perhaps one of the best ap
proaches to answering that ques
tion is to take a good look at
some of the prophets of the past
whom we can identify. Perhaps
they can tell us what to look for
Theie’s Amos, for example. A 1
though m his own day he was re
jected by most who heard him,
todaj w e i ecogmze that he was a
prophet One maik of his role as
prophet was his commission to
speak for God to the people about
the sms of the nation; “Hear this
word that the Lord has spoken
against jou, O people of Israel
against the whole family which I
In ought up out of the land of
Eg\pt . . ’ Tuercfoie I will
punish jou for all jour iniquities”
(Amos 3 2).
Amos did not come waving the
flag of Isiael and singing “God
Bless the Hebrews.” His message
NOW
IS
THE
TIME..,
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
and preferably in early spring.
Straight grass stands will re
spond to only nitrogen applica
tions, but with grass and clover
mixture, the use of af complete
fertilizer such as 5-10-10 or 10-
10-10 should be used. Most
pastures will respond profitably
to annual fertilizer treatment.
To Practice Safety
Farm and Home Safety is an
important subject, but very few
people take it seriously until its
100 late As I have mentioned
previously many times in this
column and on radio, farm an
imals and farm machinery are
not dangerous when handled
properly I realize that it is very
difficult not to take any chances,
because most of us do one time
cr another, but the plea to take
time to be safe and to urge
others to do likewise continues to
be timely The manufacturer’s
shields and guards should be
kept in place at all times and
small youngsters should he kept
off of and away from operating
machinery Serious or fatal ac
cidents cannot be corrected for
the person involved, they must
be prevented
was a condemnation of the moral
corruption that had pervaded the
nation. The message of Hosea
was also a dark warning: . a
vulture is over the house of the
Lord, because they have broken
my covenant and transgressed
my law” (Hosea 8 1). Not only
did these men condemn the sms
of Israel, they also promised dire
consequences "if the nation did
not repent: “Israel spurned the
gopd; the enemy shall pursue
him" (Hosea 8:3).
Called to prophesy
A prophet is also a man who
has received a divine call from
God. He does not become a proph*
et because he thinks he would
like to do that kind of work, but
because he is obedient to God's
will. Such a. man was Isaiah. In
Isaiah 6 we find that he is a man
who was aware of his sin before
God. But the Lord overcame these
feelings of inferiority with the
promise of his help. Isaiah did
not seek the prophet’s mantle; it'
sought him. Thus, not because he |
looked forward to being a proph
et, but because he wanted to be
obedient, he answered: “Here I
am' Send me!”
Even more reluctant bad been
Jeremiah who, when he was
called by the Lord, protested:
“Ah, Loid God! Behold, I do not
know how to speak, for I am only
a youth” (Jeremiah 1.6). But God
told him that as a prophet his
confidence was not to be in his
own adequacy, but in the help
which the Lord would give him: -
“Be not afraid of them, for I am
with you to deliver vou, says the
Lord” (1.8).
In Micah we also learn who a
prophet is not, “Thus says the
Lord concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray, who
cry ‘Peace’ when the> have some
thing to eat . . The prophet is
not a man to dwell or our assets.
His special task given by God is
to probe into our sms, our weak
nesses, our liabilities. The proph
et who tells us that ws shouldn’t
worry, that “everjthing’s going
fine 1 ”, is not, reallj a prophet.
Who is a piophef The ques
tion is still difficult, but at least
we have some idea ho,y a prophet,
when he comes, will make us feel!
(Based on outlines copyrghted by the
Divis on of Christian Edu-'ct ion, National
Council of the Churcnes c e Ch* st in the USA,
Released by Community Service.)