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All Thumbs Book Reviews

After the powerful dairy industry was able to significantly weaken than enforcing the new regulations. Within just
the Butter Act of 1886, Wiley realized that the only way to fight the two years, industry lobbyists were able to cre-
corruption prevailing between Big Food and Congress was to broaden ate a new group of industry-friendly scientists
his message beyond fellow scientists and alert and educate the public. who began to craft propaganda that cast doubt
Shrewdly, Wiley hired a professional writer to translate his science into on Wiley and the Poison Squad. When those
stories that began to resonate with the public. Not surprisingly, this was efforts failed, Wiley was isolated within the
soon met with pushback from Wiley’s politically connected superiors at administration and effectively forced out. Un-
the Department of Agriculture, which began to stifle his findings. daunted, Wiley’s next move was to collaborate
Ironically, it was during the Spanish-American War in 1898—with with the extremely popular Good Housekeeping
reporting on the Army’s cover-up of “embalmed” meat being consumed magazine, where he was able to create the Good
by soldiers—that the broader public started to take more notice. Soon Housekeeping Seal of Approval to educate and
thereafter, newspapers began following Wiley with his human experi- encourage readers to keep the pressure on politi-
ments on his volunteer “Poison Squad.” Even though the chemical and cians and industry.
food industries continued to smear Wiley with their campaign of personal In the end, Wiley’s legacy is not just one
and public attacks, the Progressive Movement’s women’s groups and man’s determination to pursue food safety,
trade unions ultimately turned the tide and pressured vote-conscious ingredient labeling and, ultimately, creation of
politicians to finally take food safety seriously. the Food and Drug Administration. On a more
By 1906, these forces helped ensure the passage of the landmark Food practical level, the work of Wiley and the Poison
and Drugs Act as well as the Meat Inspection Act. These additional influ- Squad is the primary reason that one can go buy
ences included Wiley’s successful leveraging of the new female voting a gallon of milk today and not die!

Review by Bill Hory
block to pressure President Teddy Roosevelt; the publication of Upton
Sinclair’s The Jungle, which further outraged the public; and Henry J.
Heinz’s decision to capitalize on the public’s growing food safety aware-
ness by designing and supporting a “pure food” catsup.
Passing the historic 1906 legislation was an entirely different matter

BOOK REVIEWS IN Wise Traditions
The Weston A. Price Foundation receives two or three books per week, all of course seeking a Thumbs Up review.
What are the criteria we use for choosing a book to review, and for giving a Thumbs Up?

• First and foremost, we are looking for books that add to the WAPF message. Dietary advice should incorporate the
WAPF guidelines while adding new insights, new discoveries and/or new therapies.
• We are especially interested in books on the fat-soluble vitamins, traditional food preparation methods and healing
protocols based on the WAPF dietary principles.
• We look for consistency. If you talk about toxins in vaccines in one part of your book but say you are not against
vaccines in another part of your book, or praise fat in your text but include recipes featuring lean meat, we are
unlikely to review it.
• We do not like to give Thumbs Down reviews. If we do not agree with the major tenets expounded in a book sent
to us, we will just not review it. However, we feel that we have an obligation to point out the problems in influential
or bestselling books that peddle misinformation, and for these we will give a negative review. We also will give a
negative review to any book that misrepresents the findings of Weston A. Price.
• If you want us to review your book, please do not send it as an email attachment. Have the courtesy to send us a
hard copy book or a printout of your ebook or manuscript in a notebook or coil binding.

SUMMER 2020 Wise Traditions 77