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Thanks, ...that is what I did do. I found the Nutrition site, and I found

the

reference to the article in Lancet. But I didn't find the actual article

itself, or the

Protein Fiasco Revisited article. I will look again and see if I can find the

" Great

Protein Fiasco Revisited " article. Do you have the URL for the " Revisited "

article

itself?

Mmmmm...I do remember when protein was all the rage. There was the *big* slab

of meat on

the plate; and the dreary boiled-half-to-death vegetable was barely a condiment,

assuming

there even was a vegetable served. The baked potato was smothered in butter and

sour

cream. The salad was euphemistically labeled " tossed " and consisted of a small

bowl of

iceberg lettuce with a wedge of tomato on top, and some bottled dressing.

We're catching on that lots of meat isn't all that good for you. I get that it

is better

to be a vegetarian, or to just use meat as a condiment, rather than the center

of the

meal.

But here we go, , talking about poorer and third world countries. I'm

running this

one by you to see what you think about this.

I've mentioned working in a food co-op in Ithaca NY. There are a lot of

politically

correct white people in Ithaca who have rather an attitude. Meat is murder,

y'know, and

if you live in Ithaca and invite someone to dinner, you'd better be careful and

ascertain

their politics first, lest you unthinkingly serve chicken marsala to a radical

animal-rights vegan (like my sister, who would kill you mercilessly if you so

much as look

at an animal cross-eyed). I was on the Diversity Committee at the co-op, and we

were

discussing how to make the store meet the needs of many different kinds of

people.

The question of meat came up. The PC white people where aghast at the very idea

of

selling meat. Meat is murder. But, y'know, if you want to meet the needs of

the black

people on the southside you're gonna have to give up that attitude. You're

going to sell

things that PC white people can choose *not* to eat, but black people consider

important.

Now, here I am a white person. I can eat beans and rice. (Boy, can I eat beans

and rice!

I went through some hard-ish times and had to really tighten the ol' belt there.

I made

an art-form out of cooking with beans and rice and vegetables from the 35¢ shelf

at the

food co-op. I became renown for my cooking. I was the Potluck Supper Queen of

Ithaca

NY, lemme tell you. I can work magic with beans and vegetables and herbs and

spices, and

serve it with lovely golden rice seasoned with cloves and cardamom and turmeric.

You pay

a lot of money in the supermarket for herbs and spices because you are paying

for the

packaging. But I got my spices at the co-op for mere cents. People would see

me coming

and would be just waiting to see what I was bringing in my pot. And when I

volunteered at

the Soup Kitchen, I was the Herb and Spice cook. We'd go down to the pantry and

fridge

and see what had been donated and what we had to work with, and I'd go to work

with those

herbs and spices. Man, that was/still is even though I'm gone, quite the

wonderful soup

kitchen.) So I am a white person who loves beans and rice and such things.

There was a Mexican woman on the diversity committee. And she got into a

head-butting

contest with the PC white people. She said that meat is very important to

Mexicans. She

said that poor people have little choice, and beans and rice are all they can

afford.

When meat comes into the house, it's a big deal and a real event. She said that

this PC

vegan meat-is-murder attitude will have to go and the store will have to sell

meat without

coming on all moralizing if different groups of people are to be served.

Some meat and fish is indeed available.

And what this has to do with being free of the 12 steps I don't know, unless it

is getting

used to the idea that one size does *not* fit all. But to get free of the 12

steps does

indeed mean accepting that different people will do things differently, and not

just fit

the mold....

Cheers,

nz