Down to Earth tries to deliver gift basket to Rush Limbaugh

Yesterday, December 31, 2009, our community outreach team tried to deliver a deluxe collection of fruits, vegetables, and other vegetarian foods to Rush Limbaugh, the leading conservative radio commentator, who had been hospitalized at Queens Medical Center in Hawaii with chest pain. The fruit basket was ordered by Dr. Neal D. Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRN). Unfortunately, when our team got to the hospital they were turned away by staff who would not confirm whether Limbaugh was a patient there or not. The news media were staking out the hospital but apparently did not get to see Limbaugh. However, in today's breaking news, Limbaugh was released from Queen's after spending two days there and gave a press conference praising the Queen's medical staff for their excellent care. The gift basket had with it a note from the PCRN stating that, “The single most important thing that an individual can do for their health is to adopt a vegetarian diet.” This message is amazingly similar to Down to Earth's key message so we had no problems with including it with the basket. Our full message is:

"The single most important thing an individual can do for their health, for the environment, and for the sake of the innocent animals is to adopt a vegetarian diet."

Today the Honolulu Advertiser ran an article on the Limbaugh story and mentioned that Down to Earth delivered a food basket to him. The following is from the Down to Earth press release, one interesting point is that heart attacks peak over Christmas and New Year (the moral is that eating meat is bad for you at any time, and eating too much of it can result in immediate heart attack): The doctors’ group sent Limbaugh wishes for a quick recovery and invited him to join an online program that helps people prevent and reverse heart disease and lose weight. By coincidence, the program, called the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, begins on New Year’s Day. Limbaugh, who has been publicly struggling with weight problems, hosts the most-listened-to radio talk show in America, broadcast on more than 600 radio stations nationwide. In a letter to Limbaugh, PCRM President Neal D. Barnard, MD, wrote: “In our grandparents’ day, people knew the value of humble beans, vegetables, and fruits, often growing them in their own family gardens. These foods have essentially no cholesterol and very little saturated fat. Nowadays, many Americans are very liberal with meat, dairy products, and end up needing to rely on medications to counteract the effects of their diets.” Heart attacks peak in late December and January, mainly due to holiday eating habits. PCRM scheduled the online vegan program to counter the trend and expects tens of thousands of people to participate. The program includes daily recipes and messages of encouragement from doctors and celebrities. Happy New Year to all our customers, team members, vendors, service providers, and blog readers. I hope you have a great 2010! Thanks for reading. Mark Fergusson