Hello to all paleofood subscribers,

Everyone gets a set of list rules in your welcome message when you subscribed.
Paleofood is basically a hunter/gather eating style food list. This not a
vegetarian list. Vegetarians who are interested in this style of eating are
welcome as long as they are not attacking the majority meat eaters for eating
what we seem to be biologically adapted to eat. It is a support list which means
that you do not attack other members for what they post. If you feel that
something that has posted is incorrect you may state why you feel that way,
hopefully with references but you do not attack or belittle the poster. This is
a
discussion list and a very good one if one can get by the junk.

One common complaint that I receive from many of the people who unsubscribe is
list volume. I tried to control volume by setting a limit of 60 messages per
day. This has not been enough. Our list has about a lot of turnover but we
usually maintain about 350 subscribers but most do not post. The list is
automatically locked when the 61st message comes in. When I see it is locked
(listserv sends me an email) I unlock it. However volume would be less of a
problem if the list volume was content dense and on topic.

The list does not need 1 line messages saying "I agree" or "I don't agree" or "I
don't know" or "Thank you". If it is worth sending to the list then put some
content into your reply. If your message only applies to the poster then you
might send a message directly rather than to the list.

Overquoting when replying is another problem in list volume. No one enjoys
rereading the same message over and over in each reply. This is especially a
problem for people who receive messages in digest format. Please do not quote an
entire message. Only include enough to make YOUR reply understandable.
Frequently none need to be included. This means editing out parts of the
original message are not NECESSARY. One thing that is never necessary is the
footers from juno, yahoo, hotmail, etc. EVERY line of the previous message
should be clearly labeled usually with ">" as the first character. If because of
line wrap there are dangling words without it is your responsibility to make the
proper editing corrections so that the quoted parts read easily. If you are not
willing to do this then just delete these lines. AOL has it's own style for
marking quoted material by surrounding it with "<<" and ">>". This is not the
preferred way however since it is not as readable.

The third cause of excess list volume is off topic messages (remember this is
basically a food support list for PEOPLE). Let me list some of the off topic
threads I have noticed.

Recipes (making pemmican or jerky or other H/G foods could be ok)

Supplements other than fish oil sources. It is too bad but health does not come
in a bottle. Our bodies are designed to get nourishment from food. A skilled
nutritionist may be able to help you correct an imbalance. This might take a
month of supplementation but afterwards you will need to "swim" on your own with
foods that will allow your body to maintain its proper balance. Essentially
supplements are just as manufactured as pharmaceuticals Good food is cheaper and
will allow your body to find its proper balance. All of the statements about the
depletion of the soil is nice but your body only needs enough of each nutrient
and is very good at balancing itself if given a chance and not interfered with.
If anyone chooses to supplement that is your choice but I consider discussions
of this on the list to be off topic.
Religion discussions.

Vaccinations.

Medical treatments.

I'm sure there are more that I could find if I spent the time but I hope you get
the general idea.

I want to see the clutter off the list and to focus on the discussions this list
was designed for. These topics belong elsewhere.

Thank you for your contributions,

David Karas
listowner paleofood