can contaminate drinking water. We are the invisible guardians protecting the public in numerous ways. The number of lives saved by our measures is dicult to quantify. In most cases, the public does not see our wins, only our failures. The media does not publicize nor do we report our successes, but they are quick to document our failures. We need to learn to emphasize the positive. We need to share how environmental health has improved numerous aspects of people’s daily lives, including participation in policy debates. When communicating with people, I follow Benjamin Franklin’s advice as much as possible: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.” From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: “CDC estimates that each year 1 in 6 Americans get sick from
contaminated food or beverages.” A more positive message would be food safety mea- sures in the U.S. have prevented illness in 5 out of 6 people, a food safety success rate of 84%. Car companies use positive advertis- ing to emphasize what consumers want in a car: safety, performance, or quality. Car com- panies do not focus on the negative. I have never heard or seen a car advertisement stat- ing that due to a warranty issue, only 10% of their customers had to bring in their vehicles for a repair in their first year of ownership. I feel that a quote by U.S. President The- odore Roosevelt from a speech given at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1010, sums up the eorts of environmental health profes- sionals whose hard work to help our people and communities is often unrecognized. He stated that it is not the critic, the person who
points out who stumbles, or where things could have been done better that matter. What matters is the person in the field who strives to work for a worthy cause with devo- tion and enthusiasm while learning from their errors and failures. The full quote can be found at https://speakola.com/political/ theodore-roosevelt-man-in-the-arena-1910. I am honored to be in the arena with my fellow environmental health professionals. As Dory in Finding Nemo sang, “Just Keep Swimming,” which myself, my fellow pro- fessionals, and NEHA plan to keep doing to build, sustain, and empower an eective environmental health workforce to provide healthy environments for all.
gary.brown@eku.edu
The fourth edition of the CP-FS Study Guide is now available as an e-book and can be purchased in the Google Play Store. You will need to download the Google Play Books app to read the e-book on your device. Find instructions on how to purchase the book, including discounted pricing for NEHA members, at www.neha.org/cpfs-credential.
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January/February 2023 • Journal of Environmental Health
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