Feedback on The Ecological Food Society

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I joined the Ecological Food Society after reading their ad in The New York Times. At the time, they were offering a free pint of Shaklee's Basic-H and as a Shaklee distributor, I was pleased to see them handling our products.

Three or four months after I sent my check. I received my first option list, a letter of apology and a four-ounce plastic bottle of Earth-1. The attached note said that since Shaklee was unwilling to reveal the ingredients in Basic-H, EFS had severed connections with the company. However, I noticed that the bottle of Earth-1 didn't list ingredients or even give the manufacturer's name, and the option list contained pictures of Shaklee products with the name scratched out.

During the time of my association with EFS, I never received any information about organic growers in my area, and their DDT-less apple was as elusive as their impressive board of advisers.

Minette Rowley
Rumney, N.H.

It would appear to me that Mr. Schiff and Mr. Brown might have engaged in a little Madison Avenue leg pulling when they described how the Ecological Food Society tests its wares for contamination (MOTHER NO. 13). First. of all, a $5,000 gas chromatograph can be considered a toy (especially in the hands of an amateur) when it comes to trace-residue analyses. Second, to test a single apple—and EFS apparently claims to test one out of every bushel—would involve something like $1,000 worth of lab work. (Remember, one must look more closely, than the FDA, which checks—if at all—only for amounts in excess of the allowable residues normally left after pesticide use.) Third, I doubt that there's a qualified chemist in the country who would guarantee, on the basis of testing alone that pesticides absolutely had not been used on a product. .

If you want pure food, I recommend gnawing it . . . there's more to food than the eating of it. If this isn't possible, why not buy it an a one-to-one basis from someone local? It's hard to believe that "front money" and "private investors" are necessary in order to get your hands on a few clean carrots.

Harry Ellery
Vice President. Cory Laboratories, Inc.
Menominee, Mich.

It is a shame that the organic movement is open to exploitation by profit seekers who profess to be working for change. There are many conscientious people wits are genuinely concerned woith solving environmental problems but don't know exactly what to do . . . it's among these folks that the Ecological Food Society saws its oats.

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