[966] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
Garelick...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Richard J. Barbalace)
Mon Jul 1 22:00:29 1996
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 21:58:43 EDT
From: "Richard J. Barbalace" <rjbarbal@MIT.EDU>
Hi.
Most of you probably have seen or heard or read about the ad war
between Garelick and Hood. I sent the following letter to the Boston
Globe (it wasn't printed) some time ago and there has been some
discussion on the veg-ne, etc. lists, although I've not heard many
people around MIT talk about it. I'm starting to feel aggravated
every time I hear about fish oil in milk, and have looked for milk
substitutes before; but I really haven't liked any of the soy and rice
drinks I've tried (from LaVerdes, Purity Supreme, etc.). Has anyone
here found a drink they like? Any that are good with tea? (Not that
I dilute good tea with milk often. :)
+ Richard
PS: Anyone know why vsg-summer is an inactive mailing list?
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 20:10:22 EDT
From: "Richard J. Barbalace" <rjbarbal@MIT.EDU>
The milk war between H.P.Hood and Garelick Farms is a fight to win
over health-conscious consumers. Many of these consumers are in fact
changing brands as a result of this publicity. But the reaction of
these consumers has nothing to do with any perceived differences in
the taste of the milk or the benefits of "artificial" vs. "natural"
vitamins. There are few, if any, such differences, and the Globe
("Price best shield in milk war zone," 6/16/96) quotes David Schardt,
associate nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public
Interest in Washington, as saying, "It's really a phony issue. If I
was a consumer, I would buy the cheapest one, the store brand. Milk is
milk. It's a commodity."
So why would many reasonable consumers switch brands, or even give up
drinking milk all together, as a result of this ridiculous ad war?
These health-conscious people are vegetarians, who are upset that
there is fish in their milk and who are disgusted by the tactics of
both Hood and Garelick. Milk is not just milk, and there is a problem
with Garelick's use of fish oil to supply "natural" vitamins. When it
is considered "natural" to kill an animal, vegetarians--the most
health-conscious consumers one can find--will gladly switch to
artificial brands. Many people who avoid consuming animal products
for health, moral, or religious reasons are wondering why companies
are not required to label the sources of such additives. The dozens
of vegetarians I've spoken with over the past week will be avoiding
milk from Garelick and Hood (whose ads, if not milk, are in poor
taste), and both companies can expect to lose the business of the
thousands of vegetarians in the Boston area.
- ------- End of Forwarded Message
Rereading, I think this letter comes across harsher than I intended....
