Nutritional purists have been trying and trying to alert consumers to the inferiority of the food stuffs which are being offered by the money-grabbing hustlers who dominate the food business. Old fools like us deserve whatever we are willing to put up with.

However, a loud alarm sounds in my conscience when I see evidence that poor, helpless infants are being denied the choice of life or death, and are sentenced to destruction almost from birth.

A recent issue of Spotlight, a national newspaper, featured an article by its Health Editor, Tom Valentine, pointing out that we encounter nutritional sabotage at birth. The headline of the story reads: "Skim, Low, 2%, No-Fat Milk is as Harmful to Children as Candy and Sodas."

The central point of Valentine�s essay is that, "When the fat content is removed, the water, protein and sugar concentrations make up for the difference�converting a whole, complex, natural food into a high-glycerin-index naked-sugar drink that is virtually as anti-nutritious as soda pop." He points out that taking the natural fat out of our foods renders us unable to utilize vitamins, protein and minerals contained in the food. He further quotes a recent issue of the Journal of Nutrition: "Australian scientists reported on an animal study that suggested the naked sugars in children�s diets may lead to the epidemic of Type II diabetes we are experiencing today." The study found that simple sugars, including the lactose in milk, led to obesity in test animals.

Quoted in the article is another treatise entitled, "The Campaign For Real Milk," which states, "Real milk comes from real cows. The source of most commercial milk today is the modern Holstein, bred to produce huge quantities of milk�three times as much as the old-fashioned cow. She is a genetically-manipulated pituitary freak, needing special feed and antibiotics to keep her well. Her milk contains high levels of growth hormone from her pituitary gland, even when she is spared the indignities of rBGH to push her to the �udder� limits of milk production.

"Real milk comes from real cows that eat real food. Real food for cows is green grass in spring, summer and fall; silage, hay and root vegetables in winter. It is not soy meal, cottonseed meal or other commercial feeds."

Stating flatly that "Homogenized milk has been linked to heart disease," the writer cites a book entitled, "The XO Factor," which demonstrated that homogenization allowed for the entry of xanthine oxidase into the bloodstream by absorption and this is a cause of artery lesions and heart disease.

The writer sums up present-day grocery sales quite succinctly: "What a great money-making idea�take the good stuff out of natural foods and sell it in pill form to deficient, sickly people."

One final, startling revelation: "Clean raw milk from certified healthy cows can be legally produced for commerce in only two states�California and Georgia. By executive order, former President Ronald Reagan forbade the transport of raw milk across state lines."

So far, no president has had the guts, or the concern for the people, to change it!