From the SciBabe, "J.I. Rodale started the organic movement and founded Prevention
magazine. He was also pretty much batshit insane, from his distrust of
doctors to attempting to find a dietary cure for polio. And for all his
dietary advice (and I'm sure he ate a healthy diet), it couldn't stop
genetics from torching him with a heart attack at 72... right after he
announced that he'd never felt better and he'd decided to live to be
100."
By the time of his death, J.I. Rodale had become the organics authority in America. His significance to today’s food revolution cannot be underestimated—and not simply because Rodale Inc. is still churning out the above titles, plus Men's Health, Runner's World,
and others. He was at the forefront of a critique of industrial
agriculture that contained a wariness (if not downright paranoia) about
government, science, and business's role in food production. Had Rodale
had his way, his alternative proposals would have earned him a place of
influence and respect in mainstream American society. But since the USDA
and others roundly rejected Rodale’s organic designs, he cast them and
the modern foods system as villains in a Manichean morality play, with
self-serving bureaucrats and businessmen plotting against earnest
organic advocates. That narrative lives on today. When celebrities like
Jenny McCarthy spread misinformation about the dangers of vaccines, or
locavores like Michael Pollan preach relentlessly about the evils of
large-scale food production, they're following in Rodale's reactionary
footsteps.
,,,
Rodale’s suspicion of doctors and drugs led him to embrace
scientifically dubious alternatives, such as a dietary cure for polio.
He claimed that the anti-polio course recommended in Dr. Benjamin
Sandler’s pamphlet, “The Road to Polio Prevention”—featuring unprocessed
vegetables and “protective foods like meat, fish, and poultry"—would
halt polio because “really healthy children do not get polio.” After Dr.
Sandler’s diet was broadcast in his local North Carolina newspapers,
“polio cases dropped almost magically,” Rodale claimed.
Because the establishment wasn’t trustworthy, Rodale recommended an
individualistic approach to health.“We must question every generally
accepted health tenet or dogma," he believed. "You must observe the
effects on your own bodily processes of your basic daily actions. Make
your own interpretation.” To this end, he served readers a smorgasbord
of dire warnings and dietary endorsements. In My Own Technique for Eating for Health (1969),
Rodale enumerated foods and vitamins needed for optimum well-being.
Sunflower seeds, he claimed, “contain a living element, a germ which
represents life.” Wheat, salt, and milk, on the other hand, caused
everything from the halitosis to hardened arteries. For evidence, Rodale
cited his own experiences or he cherry-picked data from various sources
(some legitimate scientific studies, some specious). Often, reader
testimony sufficed.
J.I. Rodale: A Paranoid Publisher Who Became the Godfather of Organics | The New Republic
Welcome to H&C,,, where I aggregate news of interest. Primary topics include abuse with "the church", LGBTQI+ issues, cults - including anti-vaxxers, and the Dominionist and Theocratic movements. Also of concern is the anti-science movement with interest in those that promote garbage like homeopathy, chiropractic and the like. I am an atheist and anti-theist who believes religious mythos must be die and a strong supporter of SOCAS.
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