In most cases, if two bloggers here decided to settle their philosophical differences via a duel or competition of some kind, I’d offer to referee.

But for a “Poo Duel” of the sort described by Ken Conrad and Lykke? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of that one. Especially if it comes off as Ken recalls from his childhood experiences.

Behind the fun idea of a poo contest, though, are some intriguing differences in philosophy and approach.

As Ken puts it, “Go to the farm, fork and shovel shit for a few months, get into it up to your elbows, wipe the sweat and shit from your face and let’s just see what changes transpire in your attitude towards cow shit.” His point, if I understand correctly, is that cow manure from the perspective of farmers is both a nutrient for the earth, a fertilizer, as well as a source of bacteria, good and bad, that help us build our immune systems.

When Lykke says, “let’s take it outside – rather than compare our ‘on the farm’ resumes, I hereby challenge you to a Poo Duel!” she is, of course, being humorous. But implicit is her view that the same cow manure Ken sees as a building block of growth and life, Lykke sees as a laboratory gauge, a key indicator of food-borne danger and disease.

Here is what David Acheson, associate commissioner of foods at the FDA, said at a conference last summer, in discussing discovery on a Mexican farm of salmonella that contaminated jalopeno peppers, “I think one has to realize that products like peppers and other things that are grown in the dirt, there is an inherent risk of them being contaminated with pathogens such as Salmonella.” Certainly a long way from the old adage that kids should “eat dirt” as part of the growing-up process that makes them more resistant to disease.

The philosophical differences mirror the differences in how the medical community approaches health. There’s long been talk in some quarters of “prevention.” This is understood to include lifestyle steps like exercise and weight reduction, but I would also add strengthening the immune system, even via with poo fights Ken reminisces about. Of course, most of the real focus of the health system is on treating disease that results from ineffective prevention, and which might be said to include tracking the pathogens in poo, that Lykke is heavily focused on.

Well, if Ken and Lykke decide to do their Poo Duel, The Complete Patient will be the first sponsor, if  not the referee.

.