The Rural Voice, 1993-04, Page 8resolution to open up the regional
meetings to producers, and
presumably the media, was defeated
at the 1992 OPPMB Annual
Meeting.
I have known Adrian for 15
years and I am as near as the phone.
A short phone call would have
allowed him to find out this was not
the meeting he wanted to attend. It
would also have prevented your
readers from being misinformed.
The OPPMB does thank Adrian
for raising this issue, however. The
committee of producers and
OPPMB directors who will be
developing the program for future
regional meetings will be revisiting
the question of who should attend.°
James Goodhand, Chairman
Ontario Pork Producers'
Marketing Board
Good wells best
sources of protection
In regard to your story "Water
water, everywhere, but not a drop to
drink" in the March issue of The
Rural Voice, results of the Ontario
Farm Groundwater Quality Survey,
funded by Agriculture Canada, were
reported on in newspapers across
Canada with titles such as "Well
polluted, tests show, 40 per cent on
farms unfit for use", "Drinking water
unfit in many Ontario wells", "One-
third of rural Ontario wells unfit for
use", etc. The survey report covered
the results of a single sampling of
farm water supply wells (1,300 in
total) and monitoring wells (144 in
total) installed in adjacent farm
fields.
The study confirmed that nitrate
and bacteria contamination of
domestic farm wells and shallow
groundwater resources in agricultural
areas is a significant problem that
deserves attention. However, this is
hardly news as government,
scientists and professionals in the
groundwater industry have been
aware of these contamination
problems and attempting to find
solutions to them for decades.
Perhaps what is most disappoint -
4 THE RURAL VOICE
Feedback
ing to our association in the media
coverage of the survey report is the
fact that important "good news"
findings were not given equal billing
with the "bad news" findings. For
example, little mention was made of
the effective absence of significant
pesticide and herbicide
contamination on groundwater,
which is contrary to the general
perception that this form of
contamination is a widespread and
serious threat to human health in
rural areas.
In our opinion, the survey
findings suggest that proper
construction practices and suitable
water well locations are of
paramount importance in rural areas.
In other words, shallow wells
without casing or seals at surface are
at a much greater risk of
contamination than deeper drilled
wells. Also, well locations near feed
lots, manure piles or septic systems
should be avoided. The survey
results also suggest that agricultural
practices such as fertilizer
application on farm fields be re-
examined as a step towards
protecting a valuable natural
resource.
Groundwater is a safe and
economical source of water supply
for a large number of people in rural
areas and will remain so provided it
is developed and protected by
common sense actions. It is
unfortunate that the positive aspects
of groundwater are rarely mentioned
in the media. We believe that the
public should be aware of the
occurrence and benefits of
groundwater in Ontario to appreciate
and protect this natural resource.
Reporting only negative news items
and doing so in a highly sensational
manner hardly serves to accomplish
this objective.°
J. Rennison, President
Ontario Water Well Association
Column misleading
The members of the Huron
County Nutrition Committee would
like to express their concern about the
interpretation of health information in
Adrian Vos' column "Animal Rights
and Health Myths", (February 1993).
Mr. Vos touched on a wide variety of
topics including cow's milk and
diabetes, fibre, lipoproteins and heart
disease. Rather than dispelling
myths, a number of health facts are
presented inaccurately in the article.
High density lipoproteins (HDL)
and low density lipoproteins (LDL)
are components of blood. They are
not found in foods. High density
lipoproteins are not the culprit in
heart disease. In fact, HDL appear to
help protect people against heart
disease.
Fibre foods are not able to
"literally clean out" the inside of
arteries. Most of the health benefits
attributed to fibre occur within the
intestine. Research shows that
certain types of fibre can help to
reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Getting enough fibre in your diet is
important for good health but fibre
intake is only one part of the complex
picture of heart disease. It is the total
of our food choices over time, along
with other lifestyle and genetic
factors, that determine our blood
cholesterol levels.
The author correctly identified the
bogus claim about cow's milk.
However, the discussion included
everything from human milk to
lactose intolerance and proved to be
more confusing than helpful. The
basic issue was the question of
possible health risks for children and
adults who drink cow's milk.
References to human milk are not
appropriate for such a discussion
because neither of these age groups
drink breast milk. Comments on the
contents of human milk were out of
context because this food is specially
designed to meet the unique nutrient
needs of infants between birth and 12
months of age. Health professionals
agree that breast milk is the best food
for infants.
Researchers believe that some
type of environmental factor triggers
the development of diabetes in
children with a genetic tendency to
develop this disease. The best hope
for prevention of childhood diabetes
is to identify these environmental
factors and minimize the exposure of
diabetes -prone individuals. One