Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science

11I really don’t like to ask for money - information on the Internet should be free for all - but the expenses for this blog have been rising lately. In particular, costs have been rising because Holford Watch has recently had to pay to access some of the content behind a paywall on Holford’s website; access to some other texts (journal articles etc.) has also been adding to our costs. Because we don’t receive any funding from the pharmaceutical or the supplement industry, we’re having to pay these costs out of our own pockets (all Holford Watch contributors work for free on this site - and we plan to continue working for free in the future).

So, to be blunt, please give us money. As you’ll see, we’ve now added a ‘donate’ paypal button to the site - that’s the easiest way to give (though you can contact me through my blogger profile if you’d like to offer something else). We plan to keep expenses low on this site and - if donors are so generous that we end up with more money than we can spend - this surplus will be donated to the wonderful Treatment Action Campaign*.

Given that responses to criticisms of nutritionism often come down to ‘how much is big pharma paying you’, Holford Watch will not be accepting any donations from those with competing interests in the pharmaceutical industry. Unlike many others working in and writing about the field of human nutrition, Holford Watch will also not accept any money from the supplement industry - we feel that it’s important to maintain our independence.

* In the unlikely event that this is not possible or inappropriate, any spare cash will be donated to another good cause.