Perhaps it's only because my mother has been a reading teacher my whole life, but as a reader I am innately tuned to notice - and be annoyed by - articles, essays and books whose actual message does not line up with what the author or genre purports to be or stand for.
The impetus for this post was Keep Our Food Safe. By definition, any organization with that name should be promoting valid, verifiable information and good decision making in regards to food. Yet, the first two articles on the page (although written in a cheery, unassuming tone) encourage exactly the opposite effect! Who on earth with any working knowledge of the modern food safety system can, in good conscience, report that antibiotics used in food production are a good thing? And what kind of lunatic do you need to be to claim that the USDA's increased involvement in ANYTHING is an improvement?!
I won't go into the extensive rant that this nonsense prompts. Instead, I will simply remind everyone to please take everything you read with a grain of salt; if it's food related, you'll need a lot more than a grain with all the lies out there! If you have children, please take the time to teach them critical reading skills as well. We may not have the power to prevent misinformation from being intentionally fed to us, but we don't have to swallow it!
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