"Why am *I* going on a hunger strike to protest the usage of growth
hormones in cows and the FDA approval of such? Well there are a number
of reasons:

(1) To begin with: common sense tells us that if humans (example:
athletes) incur heatlh problems from taking human growth hormone, then
cows will do the same when taking bovine (cow) growth hormone -- a bad
tradeoff for the increase in milk output sought. REMEMBER: we know even
hormones EXACTLY like the body produces are harmful in excess. THIS IS
HARMFUL FOR THE COWS!! (2) This cause unhealthy cows and unhealthy milk,
made even worse by the hormones get in and pollute this milk from
unhealthy cows. THIS IS HARMFUL FOR HUMANS WHO DRINK THIS STUFF!! (3)
OK: I'll admit that fasting, when done right (kind of like Robert is
doing it here), it's healthy; and, I've felt a little tired lately, so
it's time for a "healthy" change! However...

... although I am not formally going on hunger strike for milk usage per
se, I nonetheless discourage its usage. Why? (I admit that *I* was
surprised when someone told *me* that milk was bad for the health!
However, I investigated, and here is a synopsis of what I found out.)

Even 'natural' milk is hard for humans to digest because we don't have
cow enzymes nor several stomachs like cows. Even cows don't drink milk
in adulthood yet are healthy, so why should we. Furthermore, we
homogonize and pasteurize the milk, which has some negative effects,
discussed in more detail on my Web Page and here in Robert's Web Site.
In addition to being inefficient (it takes about 1,000 calories of
grass, feed, and fertilizer to make 100 calories of milk), it is also
harmful. The research I did found that MANY SCIENTIFIC STUDIES (not
'popular' magazines) showed that there is a STRONG correlation between
milk usage and many (very many!) diseases. In fact, if I drink a lot of
milk, my mouth gets watery and slimey, and I am not even lactose
intolerant!

In short, it is cheaper and healthier to get calcium and protein from
vegetables and fruits -- even if you have to add in a little multi-
vitamin/mineral supplements. And, the calcium from non-animal sources is
easier to assimilate. Just think about it for a second: Can you take
1,000 calories of grass and get 2,000 calories of milk?: Here's a hint:
[BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE 5TH EDITION by KEETON & GOULD: (ISBN: 0-393-96223-7)
"...[O]nly a fraction of the energy at one trophic level can be passed
on to the next. This fraction varies from a high of about 35 percent for
the most efficient ... to below 0.1 percent..." p.1156; and, "Given the
inefficiency of the energy transfer from one trophic level to the next,
it might seem that the earth could support more humans if we all stopped
being omnivorous, and lived on a wholly vegetable diet instead of the
combined animal and vegetable diet..." p.1157. PS: Some of the
scientific correlations might frighten you, because, sometimes
correlation DOES mean causation! Therefore...

For more details, either research the matter yourself, peruse Robert's
site here, or visit my page below:
http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~gww1210/consumer.html Gordon W. Watts"