Stephen Colbert had a fab segment last night on “The Colbert Report” about rBGH, the synthetic hormone that makes dairy cows produce more milk. It’s hilarious, perhaps even more so because he never mentions the name Monsanto, which manufactures the most widely used form of rBGH; Monsanto is currently protesting the use of “rBGH-free” on labels like the one Colbert sees on his Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, AmeriCone Dream.
Colbert shows a short educational film ostensibly provided by the Prescott Group, “a think tank for the pharmo-petro-chemico-military-industrio-agri-business.” They don’t exist, of course, but Googling them led me to Colbert’s own Wikiality, the “truthiness encyclopedia,” where I mightily enjoyed the entries on think tanks, the Prescott Group, and on rBGH, which was defined thusly:
Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone is a chemical which helps cows help America. Without it, Americans could not fully dominate the cows in the field.
Remember how Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes? Think of rBGH as Christ for cows.
Unfortunately, the g*^%&* WordPress blog system is still not playing nice with embedded video, so click the still frame below to be taken to Comedy Central’s site, where you can watch the rBGH segment.
(Hat tip to Sustainable Table, which helped the Report with some footage and provides more serious context for rBGH.)
Food, Farming, & Food Politics events calendar
Humor:
April 20th, 2007 at 5:31 am
This was excellent…! I just read that Greece, the seat of Western Civilization, has banned all GMO’s. If only that level of intelligence could make it’s way to America. Probably not … too much greed (and corporate influence in Congress) here. But it is still my wish.
GMO’s are a hot issue. Comedy thrives on hot issues. I hope we can see more. Thank you …
b.
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:23 am
…did you know that The Culinary Institute of America recently held a large conference for all sorts of chefs all over the USA.
But one chef did a little homework
And it turned out that the whole thing was being sponsored by Monsanto. Yup.
A friend of mine, a local SF chef, respectfully declined, in protest. Michael Pollan told him that this happens a lot.
Maybe one day we’ll go to a farmers’ market sponsored by them…
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:50 pm
shuna fish…
That is so depressing…I’m glad at least one chef did some homework and found this out…Oh, I couldn’t stand to see that happen at any farmer’s market…
Hopefully, you can encourage your chef friend to keep spreading the word about these things…So many people don’t know…