Monsanto and the Campaign to Undermine Organics

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Monsanto partially funds the anti-organic Center for Global Food Issues, a project of the right-wing Hudson Institute (1). It is run by Dennis Avery [1] [2] and his son Alex Avery. Here find the latest on Hudson's anti-environmental and pro-biotech spinmeister Michael Fumento, and his secretly taking money (at least $60,000) from Monsanto. See also [3].

In 1998 Dennis wrote an article that began "'According to recent data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), people who eat organic and natural foods are eight times as likely as the rest of the population to be attacked by a deadly new strain of E. coli bacteria (0157:H7)'.

However, according to Robert Tauxe, M.D., chief of the food borne and diarrheal diseases branch of the CDC, there is no such data on organic food production in existence at their centers and he says Avery's claims are 'absolutely not true.'" [4]. Following in his father's steps Alex distorted a study from the Journal of Food Protection that showed that organic food does not contain more pathogens than conventionally grown, contrary to Avery's claims.

He instead declared that the study showed the opposite, "According to Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, the report's chief author and faculty member at the University of Minnesota, 'I had a very heated discussion with Alex Avery of the Hudson Institute. They were very dissatisfied with our findings and told me that our interpretations were not "correct"'.... Dr. Diez-Gonzalez is not surprised to learn that the Hudson Institute, with its long record and the backing of agribusiness giants like Monsanto and DuPont, is now trying to use the independently funded, University of Minnesota data to discredit organic farming.

Commenting on the Diez-Gonzalez study, Alex Avery called eating organic food 'a crap shoot' and warned that potential cases of diarrhea, typhoid fever and Reiter's Syndrome await its consumers. 'This statement is total a fabrication and a gross distortion of the Diez-Gonzalez study,' charged Kastel. 'Alex Avery will say anything in his petty little war against organic food and farming'" [5]. For more see Trashing organic foods.

Yet another area of alarm is the discovery that agri-business giants like Monsanto are quietly aquiring organic and health food businesses through "unfriendly takeovers" [6] [7].

As an aside, Master Chefs around the world have repeatedly stated their opposition to GM food - examples [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13].

Said Chef Charlie Trotter, "I have concerns that this untested technology diminishes the purity and taste of food" [14].

An ironic and embarrassing episode occurred in 1999 when Monsanto's own chefs banned the use of GM food from the company cafeteria at its main offices in Buckinghamshire in the UK [15], "It must be the final insult. Having led the way in promoting genetically modified (GM) food, the food technology giant Monsanto has suffered the indignity of having GM products banned in its own staff canteen by the caterers, who say the move is 'in response to concern raised by our customers'" [16].

The referenced articles states that the chefs decided that "In response to concern raised by our customers over the use of GMFs [genetically-modified foods], and to comply with government legislation, we have taken the decision to remove, as far as is practicable, GM soya and maize from all food products served in our restaurant.... We have taken the above steps to ensure that you, the customer, can feel confident in the food we serve".

The caterers however later 'clarified' the issue by claiming that no one at Monsanto asked for its removal, now citing only labling laws that came into force at the time [17].

(1) Monsanto is also a supporter of anti-environmental groups such as Consumer Alert [18]. "Another group that represents itself as crusading for scientific truth is the Washington-based Consumer Alert, founded in 1977. Although it describes its work as nonpartisan, Consumer Alert takes a pro-business, anti-environmental position on almost every issue. It denounces global warming as a myth, attacks the Clean Air and Endangered Species Acts, and denies the dangers of second-hand smoke. Most of its policy papers and editorials were written by Michael Fumento, a columnist who now serves as a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. Consumer Alert endorses the Cato Institute's "Principles for Environmental Policy." This proclamation, signed by a who's who of "wise use" proponents, think-tank conservatives and "new consumerists" (including Whelan) calls for regulations to be wholly subordinate to private sector priorities. No environmental law could survive its seven principles" [19].

"Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the F.D.A.'s job" - Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications. "Playing God in the Garden" New York Times Magazine, October 25, 1998.

"Genetically engineered food constitutes a massive experiment on the planet, with potentially devastating effects on human health and the global environment" Adam Kapp, Columnist for the Penn State Digital Collegian, Nov. 7, 2002.

"If Monsanto hid what it knew about its toxic pollution for decades, what is the company hiding from the public now? This question seems particularly important to us as this powerful company asks the world to trust it with a worldwide, high-stakes gamble with the environmental and human health consequences of its genetically modified foods" [20].

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