The war of words that broke out last year between model and blogger, Rosanna Davison, and John Comer, the President of Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), the state’s specialist dairy farmers’ organisation, has flared up again with the farm leader taking time out from preparations for next week’s Ploughing Championships to reply to what he termed “Miss Davison’s latest ill-advised and scientifically illiterate denigration of dairy and meat foodstuffs”.
The ICMSA President said that what made Ms Davison’s latest remarks in the latest edition of Independent’s Health & Living supplement even more reprehensible than her previous attack on dairy foods was that the even more scientific evidence had been added to what was already an overwhelming body of research testifying to the fundamental necessity of dairy and meat for any sensible understanding of a good and balanced diet.
“The verdict of proper science and nutritional research has been in for some years now – certainly long enough for anyone interested in the area to grasp the main thrust. There is now an unquestioned acceptance of the crucial roles played by cheese and dairy products in a healthy and obesity-avoiding diet. The current nutritional rehabilitation of butter, in terms of food health, is especially welcome and all reputable commentators now understood and stressed the innate superiority of real butter over the synthetic and oil-based replacements that we were told for years were healthier”, said Mr Comer.
“This re-discovery of age-old wisdom about what constitutes real food is combining with state-of-the-art research and is rolling back the type of quackery and nonsense we’ve had to listen to for many years from individuals who just can’t – or won’t – accept the overwhelming evidence that exists against their own pet theories on what constitutes good food. Rosanna Davison is a very high profile model who is justly famed for her beauty and poise but I have to ask why she seems fixated on continually undermining the image and reality of dairy and meat as excellent and healthy foods? This is not an harmless exercise on her part and it’s most certainly not consequence-free for Irish farming. ICMSA represents Ireland’s dairy farmers , the jewel in the crown of Irish farming, and we’re obliged to challenge Rosanna when she comes out with this type of spoofing that denigrates and damages the image of one of the world’s great foods that we produce in this country to unrivalled standards of excellence”, said Mr Comer.