Germs - and common sense

There is a really interesting article in the New York Times today on the effect of too much hygiene.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27brod.html?em.

Anyone who grew up on a farm intuitively knows the truth of the old saying 'a bit of dirt never hurt anyone too much'. When you think about the NY Times article, the message gets a bit more nuanced. It really says:

• dirt doesn't hurt you very much or very often; but
• excessive cleanliness hurts you definitely and quite seriously.

What a useful call for moderation and common sense over misapplied psuedo science.

Farming has suffered significantly from scientific over-reach during my life time - a little of this looks good, therefore a lot must be better. Isn't gorging on a 'good thing' at the heart of the industrial food system and its failings?

I'm rarely (if ever) attracted to conspiracy theories that say Monsanto or Gunns or some other corporate hate magnet is bent on doing the devil's business. It always strikes me as much more likely that they're just doing more of what has succeeded for them in the past - and, in doing more of it, they've gone past the point where it's still a good thing.

A bit like cleanliness really ....