*ESSENCE* OF BETRAYAL BETRAYAL How many pieces of silver does it take for a Judas to sell out his spiritual leader? How many dollars does it take for a woman to prostitute her own body? What sized check from the dairy industry is required for an African American athlete or model to betray the children of his or her own race? How many advertising dollars are needed to tempt a major African American magazine into betraying the health interests of its readers by running milk mustache ads? One week ago (May 23, 2001), the results of a racially biased survey were posted as a press release: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010522/cgtu004.html My comments: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/585 The dairy industry carefully planned the timing of that press release and followed up one week later with an announcement from *Essence*, a magazine read by millions of African Americans. *Essence* is launching a new milk mustache contest: "Be A Milk Mustache Diva'' This joint advertising venture, sponsored by the milk marketing promotion board and *Essence* magazine, intends to "educate" African American women about the "benefits" of drinking milk. ONE LUCKY READER The magazine plans to invite a reader to pose for a milk mustache ad like black tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, actress Whoopi Goldberg, model Tyra Banks, film director Spike Lee, and basketball has-been Patrick Ewing. The grand prize winner will be flown to New York for a photo shoot for their ad which will appear in an upcoming issue of *Essence*. THE ESSENCE OF COMMENTS Monique Greenwood, editor-in-chief of *Essence* magazine, had this to say: "Sponsoring this contest allows us to address a major health concern of our readers, because the majority of African American women are not getting enough calcium to maintain their bone health. By drinking milk, we can reverse that trend." Will Monique exercise editorial integrity by reporting the truth about calcium and bone disease to her readers? Forty million American women have osteoporosis. Only 250 thousand African women have bone disease. In Africa, osteoporosis is found in only one of the 40 tribes in Kenya and Tanzania, the Maasai. The Maasai are the cattle-owning, milk drinking people. Just for the record: In South Africa, blacks consume little or no milk or dairy products. In the United States, the average American consumes 666 pounds of milk and dairy products each year. In South Africa, there are just 7 cases of pelvic fractures per 100,000 population. The rate of pelvic fractures in the United States is more than 20 times greater at 145 cases per 100,000. In the United States, the average American consumes 973 milligrams of calcium per day, primarily from milk and dairy products. In South Africa, the average black person consumes 196 milligrams per day of calcium and suffers no ill effects from bone loss. THE ESSENCES OF *ESSENCE* *Essence* has a responsibility to its investors. Increase cash flow. *Essence* also has a responsibility to its readers. Insure their health. By choosing the money, one of the above two groups will win, and one will lose. Share your thoughts with the editor, Monique Greenwood. EMAIL (she will read your EMAIL): info@essence.com PHONE 212-642-0700 EXT. 688 MAIL *ESSENCE* Monique Greenwood, Editor-In-Chief 1500 Broadway, 6th floor New York, NY 10036. __________________________________________________ Robert Cohen author of: MILK A-Z Executive Director (notmilkman@notmilk.com) Dairy Education Board http://www.notmilk.com This file: http://www.notmilk.com/forum/594.txt Do you know of a friend or family member with one or more of these milk-related problems? Do them a huge favor and forward the URL or this entire file to them. Do you know of someone who should read these newsletters? If so, have them send a empty Email to: notmilk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and they will receive it (automatically)!