# William Longgood
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Longgood
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Longgood.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Longgood
> Source revision: 1316046219
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{short description|American journalist and writer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = William Frank Longgood
| image = William Longgood.png
|birth_date = September 12, 1917
|birth_place = [St. Louis](/source/St._Louis)
|death_date = August 9, 2000
|death_place = [Cape Cod](/source/Cape_Cod)
| occupation = Journalist, writer}}
'''William Frank Longgood''' (September 12, 1917 – August 9, 2000) was an American journalist and writer known for the controversial book ''Poisons in Your Food''.
==Biography==
Longgood was born in [St. Louis](/source/St._Louis).[Brennan, Elizabeth A; Clarage, Elizabeth C. (1999). ''Who's Who of Pulitzer Prize Winners''. Oryx Press. p. 392. {{ISBN|1-57356-111-8}}] He graduated from the [Missouri School of Journalism](/source/Missouri_School_of_Journalism) in 1940. Longgood worked as a salesman and writer for radio stations in [Niagara Falls, New York](/source/Niagara_Falls%2C_New_York) during 1940–1942.[Fischer, Heinz Dietrich; Fischer, Erika J. (2002). ''Complete Biographical Encyclopedia of Pulitzer Prize Winners, 1917–2000''. Munich: K. G. Saur. pp. 145–146. {{ISBN|3-598-30186-3}}] He served in the [United States Armed Forces](/source/United_States_Armed_Forces) (1943–1946). After his discharge he worked as a reporter for the ''[Newark Evening News](/source/Newark_Evening_News)'' in New York until 1948. He worked for the ''[New York World-Telegram](/source/New_York_World-Telegram)'' (1948–1965).[Osmundsen, John A. (1960).
[https://www.nytimes.com/1960/05/01/archives/chemicals-for-dinner-the-poisons-in-your-food-by-william-longgood.html "Chemicals For Dinner; The Poisons in Your Food By William Longgood"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved March 30, 2020.][Kirchhelle, Claas. (2020). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554194/ ''Chapter 2: Picking One’s Poisons'']. In ''Pyrrhic Progress: The History of Antibiotics in Anglo-American Food Production''. Rutgers University Press.] During 1950–1952 a select committee held a series of hearings to investigate the use of "Chemicals in Foods and Cosmetics" which were published by the [United States Congress](/source/United_States_Congress). The hearings provided a basis for the book.[{{cite journal|author=Carstairs, Catherine|year=2014|title=Our Sickness Record Is a National Disgrace: Adelle Davis, Nutritional Determinism, and the Anxious 1970s|journal=Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences|volume=69|issue=3|pages=461–491|doi=10.1093/jhmas/jrs057|jstor=24631708|pmid=23011464|s2cid=30471126}}]
Longgood stated that antibiotic residues were "vitamin antagonists" and masked disease in slaughtered animals.[''Your Roast Beef May Contain DDT and Other Nasty Poisons''. ''Independent Star News'' (June 5, 1960).] It was negatively reviewed by nutritionist William J. Darby in the ''[Science](/source/Science_(journal))'' journal.[{{cite journal|author=Darby, William J.|year=1960|title=Review: The Poisons in Your Food|journal=Science|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.131.3405.979.a|volume=131|issue=3405|pages=979|doi=10.1126/science.131.3405.979|url-access=subscription}}] Darby commented that the book was written from a non-scientific bias of a natural food-organic cult follower of [J. I. Rodale](/source/J._I._Rodale) and suggested that it will "no doubt be welcomed by those who believe with him that the public is the victim of a giant conspiracy joined in by the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, the "big chemical companies" and, apparently, scientists in general– a charge so ridiculous that it serves only to be ignored."[{{cite journal|author=Longgood, William F.|year=1960|title=Food Additives|journal=Science|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.132.3420.156|volume=132|issue=3420|pages=156–158|doi=10.1126/science.132.3420.156|pmid=17775762|bibcode=1960Sci...132..156L|url-access=subscription}}]
The book was criticized for citing dubious sources such as Royal Lee of Milwaukee who was convicted for fraudulent claims and [Adelle Davis](/source/Adelle_Davis).[Stare, Frederick J; Myers, Madge L. ''Food Poison Drive is Called Fraudulent''. ''[Middletown Daily Record](/source/Times_Herald-Record)'' (May 12, 1960).] Nutritionist [Frederick J. Stare](/source/Frederick_J._Stare) included ''Poisons in Your Food'' in a list of least desirable books on nutritional [quackery](/source/quackery).[Stare, Frederick J. (1964). ''Health Frauds and Quackery''. In [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d03548320m&view=1up&seq=48 ''Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Frauds and Misrepresentations Affecting the Elderly of the Special Committee on Aging United States Senate Eighty-Eighth Congress Second Session Part 3'']. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 297]
The book was positively received outside of the scientific community. There is evidence that [Rachel Carson](/source/Rachel_Carson) was familiar with Longgood's book. In 1960, Carson commented in a letter to [Marjorie Spock](/source/Marjorie_Spock), "It is too bad that Mr. Longgood is having such rough going with his book, although I suppose not surprising. His reporting of the trial would automatically make him a target of the New York State Department of Agriculture."[{{cite journal|author=Paull, John|year=2013|title=The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring|journal=[SAGE Open](/source/SAGE_Open)|volume=3|issue=3|pages=1–12|doi=10.1177/2158244013494861|doi-access=free}}]
===''The Darkening Land''===
Longgood authored ''The Darkening Land'' in 1972 which received positive reviews.[{{cite journal|author=Puleston, Dennis|year=1973|title=Reviewed Work: The Darkening Land by William Longgood|journal=[The Quarterly Review of Biology](/source/The_Quarterly_Review_of_Biology)|volume=48|issue=2|pages=380|doi=10.1086/407659}}][[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/william-longgood-2/the-darkening-land/ "The Darkening Land"]. ''[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews)''. Retrieved March 30, 2020.] The book documented how humans have [polluted](/source/Pollution) the land, sea, and air. Environmentalist [Dennis Puleston](/source/Dennis_Puleston) positively reviewed the book in ''[The Quarterly Review of Biology](/source/The_Quarterly_Review_of_Biology)'' commenting that "among the spate of recent books decrying the environmental deterioration of Planet Earth, this work stands out from the rest as the most comprehensive and well-documented indictment of man's treatment of his natural world."