An idea to halt bisphenol A

I have a proposal. I hope everyone with the means gives it serious consideration. It will involve the conjunction of two realities. It is imperfect. I propose it anyway.

Bisphenol A is ubiquitous in our food system. It was developed in the 1930s as an artificial estrogen. Now it is in the lining of most canned goods, and along with phthalates, a softening (plasticizing) agent for plastics, used for baby bottles, nipples and pacifiers, is poisoning the next generation of boys with pseudo-estrogens.

If there is anything a tiny infant boy does not need, it is artificial estrogen. It is also poisoning our little girls for similar reasons. The ubiquitous nature of bisphenol A in our food system may be contributing to infertility in men, premature puberty in girls, breast cancers. After saturating our food system with an artificial estrogen, the chemical industry and their first cousin, the pharmaceutical industry, now soak our airways with commercials for Viagra. Cause a problem for us and then sell us a "solution" seems to be the current paradigm.

We can solve this problem. During the holiday season, donate all your canned goods to the local food pantry. The poor in this country have larger problems than slow poisoning. Hunger and malnutrition are their most immediate threats. Let's fill the food pantries and solve an immediate problem (hunger) and then take a pledge not to buy a single item of canned food until the industry takes the bisphenol A out of the linings of cans.

We, as a nation, have a problem with "learned helplessness." We think we can't, so we don't even try. So we rely on government to do it.

We must help ourselves and each other.

Anita Mitchell

Sugar Grove