SUPPLEMENTS OK

Regarding ‘The Pharmacy Spending Trap’. What particular qualifications in the profession of natural medicine are held by journalist Rob Stock?

Obviously, his research has been very selective, and comes from an entirely medically biased perspective.

It is sad to see such ignorance, when in today’s world, often due to people’s dietary habits and significant mineral deficiencies in the soil our foods are now commercially grown in, there has evolved a very real need for good quality supplementation.

These nutrient deficient and hence tasteless fruits and vegetables are no longer providing our bodies with the quality and quantity of minerals and nutrients that are needed to keep us reasonably healthy.

Herbs, vitamins and minerals sold as supplements are in fact concentrated food, consumed to counter these deficiencies.

If it’s scientifically proven, peer reviewed papers and reputable journals in natural medicine you want, there is a huge amount of documented scientifically based research available, with much more developing daily.

Pharmacies and health food stores are providing the public with safe, effective natural alternatives to many pharmaceutically prescribed drugs, plus offering sound advice and good value supplementation that is efficacious, well researched and designed by nature to balance our human biological systems. I have often reflected on what or who is driving the burgeoning increases in council expenditure. There has to be a limit on what even long suffering ratepayers will tolerate.

What does it cost to convene a totally unnecessary governance committee meeting to discuss two items involving the Kaikohe/ Hokianga Community Board with the objective of censuring the board for the manner in which it conducted its affairs without having the grace to raise the matter with the board itself?

The agenda for the governance committee meeting on October 11 is evidence that the ‘‘tail is indeed wagging the dog.’’ It is time the tail was docked.

The two agenda items refer to hosting a domain name and to kill an initiative of the board in livestreaming board meetings. An initiative that was more favourable commented on by