12/12/13 Letter to Superintendent Jane Collins Concerning Making a Presentation to the Board of Education of the Salmon River Central School District on Subject of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Exposure Minimization
12/12/13
Jane Collins, Superintendent
Salmon River Central School District
Fort Covington, NY USA
Dear Superintendent Collins,
I plan to attend the December 16, 2013 meeting of the Board of
Education to make a brief presentation on the subject of persistent
organic pollutants (POPs) exposure minimization. POPs are toxic,
man-made chemicals that are fat soluble. These toxicants are present
in all animal fats, including the fats found in foods of the
mainstream food supply: meats, fish, dairy products, eggs and
processed foods in which animal fat is used as an ingredient. Changes
in school lunch menus are effective actions for POPs exposure
minimization. My purpose in making the short presentation is to
obtain an agenda spot for making a full presentation. A full
presentation on this subject requires approximately one half hour.
Thank you for your interest in the use of scientific knowledge to
protect student health. Please see the letter and media advisory
provided below for further background on this matter.
joyous in Nature,
Donald L. Hassig
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Donald Hassig <donaldhassig@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Nov 2013 16:43:16 -0500
Subject: 11/8/13 Letter to Natasha Jock, Salmon River Central School
District Concerning Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Exposure
Minimization
To: njock@mail.fehb.org
11/8/13
Natasha Jock
Salmon River Central School District
Dear Ms. Jock,
As a result of the use of PCBs at the industrial facilities located in the
Town of Massena, the people of the Akwesasne Reserve have received harmful
exposures to this group of chemicals. PCBs are some of the most well
studied chemicals belonging to the large group of chemical substances
referred to as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Over the course of
the past several decades a great quantity of scientific knowledge has
accumulated on the damages to health imposed by exposure to POPs. The 2010
World Health Organization report, “Persistent Organic Pollutants: Impact
on Child Health” recommends action to minimize the POPs exposure received
by children. Minimizing consumption of animal fats is a key strategy for
minimizing POPs exposure. You can access this report at the URL found
below.
http://www.who.int/ceh/publications/persistent_organic_pollutant/en/
The residents of Akwesasne suffer much disease, including: cancers, heart
disease and type 2 diabetes. These diseases are associated with POPs
exposure. Minimization of exposure to PCBs and the other POPs would reduce
disease risk among the people of Akwesasne.
I would like to discuss POPs exposure minimization with a focus on
minimizing the animal fat content of school lunches served in Salmon River
Central School District schools. Forty five minutes would be a sufficient
time for my presentation on this subject.
Thank you for your attention to this request.
joyous in Nature,
Donald L. Hassig
_______________________________________________________________________
Media Advisory
12/12/13
Donald L. Hassig, Director
Cancer Action NY
315.262.2456
________________________________________________________________________
Minimizing PCB and Total POPs Exposure Via Changes in School Lunches
Presentation for Salmon River Board of Education
Monday, December 16, 2013, 6:00 PM
Salmon River School, 637 CR 1, Fort Covington, NY USA
The school lunch makes up a significant part of what children eat.
School lunch programs are required to provide certain information to
the New York State Department of Education. The percentage of fat in
school lunch meals is included in this information. Percentages of
fat in school lunches served in the Canton and Colton-Pierrepont
School Districts were reported as 27.69 percent and 29.84 percent
respectively. (The reported information did not include a breakdown
for vegetable fats and animal fats. Only percentage of total fat was
reported. The total fat percentages provided were % Kcals. In the
case of fats, % Kcals is higher than percent by mass.)
Major retailer meatballs are approximately 30 percent fat by mass.
Prepared meals available in the supermarket range from less than 10
percent fat to over 20 percent fat. No prepared meals were found to
have a percentage of fat as high as 30 percent by mass.
School lunch meals are nearly 30 percent fat with regards to caloric
content because fat is cheap. School districts feed children very low
cost food. At a time when animal fats are contaminated with PCBs and
other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including: dioxins,
brominated flame retardants and fat soluble pesticides such as DDT.
Mirex and Toxaphene, it is unsound to feed children meals with a 30
percent fat content. Considering the fact that meatballs, chicken
patties, sausage and ravioli are all on the school lunch menu, it is
likely that animal fats constitute a major fraction of total fat in
school lunches.
In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) published, “Persistent
Organic Pollutants: Impact on Child Health”. This report was created
to provide health professionals with an understanding of POPs exposure
and disease outcome. Scientific evidence indicates that current
levels of POPs in the animal fat portion of the food supply are
causing serious harm to health. POPs exposure is associated with
diseases and disorders, including: cancers, type 2 diabetes, heart
disease, autoimmune diseases, reproductive problems, autism, ADHD and
cognitive impairments. WHO recommends action to minimize the exposure
that children receive to POPs.
School lunches should be much lower than 30 percent fat in terms of
caloric content. The federal government guidelines for fat content of
school lunches are not sufficiently restrictive to protect against
POPs exposure. This lack of stringency is due to corporate influence
upon the federal government agencies responsible for setting food
consumption guidelines.
Akwesasne Health 