It's not every day that one of our projects here at the American Council on Science and Health moves people to write poetry. Well, actually, we've posted some ACSH-themed poetry, but rarely has anyone outside the organization written poetry about us, but now the Heartland Institute has.
The Heartland Institute ( http://heartland.org/ ) does some great work asking skeptical questions about government regulations and environmentalist hype (we are troubled by the pro-smoking tone of their Smokers' Lounge website, but that's a story for another time). The November issue of their Environment & Climate News magazine reprinted ACSH's Holiday Dinner Menu, a guide to the many all-natural chemicals in a typical Thanksgiving dinner and a reminder that the disproportionate fear of man-made chemicals is silly given the vastly greater number chemicals that nature itself imposes on us, with no discernible harm from either group of substances.
To accompany our menu, Environment & Climate News ran the following verses by James A. Taylor (and, no, it's not the same James Taylor who wrote "Fire and Rain," though those substances are also harmless in small enough doses):
'Twas the day before Thanksgiving
And all across the nation
Families gathered in prayer
With goodwill and salutation
As they assembled with loved ones
On their Holiday mornings
Misguided alarmists
Gave dire chemical warnings
Preservatives, chemicals,
The products of science
Are bound to kill you
They screamed in defiance
Then along came a group
Not shamed by our wealth
The American Council
On Science and Health
With science and studies
Supporting their word
They proved the alarmists
Were quite absurd
Eat and drink, ACSH soothed
Don't fret and don't hurry
With a bounty of knowledge
Give thanks without worry
A nation blessed
Then exclaimed with good cheer
The best of the holidays
And a happy New Year!