In a barely-reported but seismic event in public health history, Britain's esteemed medical journal Lancet this week called on Tony Blair to ban tobacco. That's quite a shift from the days when tobacco companies could still issue propaganda like the so-called "Frank Statement," which flatly denied that cigarette smoking had been shown to cause lung cancer. The fiftieth anniversary of that pronouncement arrives on January 4, 2004.
As ACSH's president, Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, put it in her 1984 book A Smoking Gun:

[Remarks delivered by ACSH's chairman, John Moore, at ACSH's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration in New York City.]

Remarks delivered at the American Council on Science and Health's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration on the evening of December 4, 2003 in New York City.

A 25th Anniversary Commentaryfrom Dr. Elizabeth WhelanPresident, Co-FounderAmerican Council on Science and Health:

As the American Council on Science and Health prepares to mark its twenty-fifth anniversary with a celebratory dinner on Dec. 4, here's a quick look back at how things have changed over the years.
The world was different but not all that different in 1978, the year that a plucky pro-science non-profit opened its doors, headed by epidemiologist Dr. Elizabeth Whelan and dedicated to informing the public and opinion-makers about the real health science that is so often obscured by scare stories, activists, con artists, and quacks.

1. Focus your efforts on things that matter; inform yourself about possible risks.

Contaminated scallions linked to a deadly outbreak of hepatitis A shouldn't scare most people away from eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, experts say.
But the only way to ensure total safety is to cook everything.
A quote from an AP article by Juliana Barbassa about the recent hepatitis A outbreak linked to raw scallions (and something that the "raw foods" wing of the organic movement ought to keep in mind)
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A San Francisco Chronicle article by Peter Fimrite noted one of the stranger ballot measures to pass on Nov. 4, in the town of Bolinas, CA:

Iowa State Press describes Thomas R. DeGregori's latest book thusly:
Origins of the Organic Agriculture Debate takes a historical look at two contrasting streams of ideas. The first view comprises the flow of ideas in chemistry and biology that have created the conditions for modern medicine, modern food production, and the biotechnological revolution. The second view is the "vitalist" reaction to the rise of modern science and the resulting rejection of modern agriculture.