Kavin Senapathy

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Kavin Senapathy is a pro-GMO activist who blogs at Forbes about GMOs.[1] Senapathy is also a guest contributor to Science 2.0 and the Genetic Literacy Project, which is operated by Jon Entine.[2] In a report on corporate attacks against science, Congress found that to discredit the World Health Organization (WHO), Monsanto "turned to industry trade groups, such as CropLife and industry front groups, such as Genetic Literacy Project and Academics Review as platforms of support for industry spokespersons."[3] Senapathy has guest hosted the podcast run by Kevin Folta[4] and provided an interview for Monsanto's website where she said her job is to debunk myths.[5]

In 2015, Senapathy helped organize an open letter [6] to celebrity mothers speaking in support of labelling genetically engineered foods. This letter inspired the documentary film Science Moms, and led to creation of the group SciMoms.

A Self Described Science Defender

In the past, Senapathy has described herself as a "science defender"[7], "science communicator"[8] and "science popularizer"[9]. She does not appear to hold any formal science degrees.

In September 2015, Senapathy attended an event[10] in Washington DC hosted by Independent Women's Forum called, Women Fighting the Culture of Alarmism: Come Meet the Science Defenders! Attendees of the event included, Angela Logomasini and Michelle Minton of Competitive Enterprise Institute;[11] Julie Gunlock of IWF; fellow Forbes contributor, Tara Haelle; Janice Person, Online Engagement Director for Monsanto Company; SciMoms Anastasia Bodnar of the front group Biology Fortified, Inc.; Monsanto's Social Sciences Lead Cami Ryan; and the 'SciBabe' Yvette d'Entremont[12].

In an interview with Monsanto Europe Senapathy is described as, "Fighting the hydra of science myths..." and "...a science communicator tackling myths on science, health and food. She is the co-Executive Director of international pro-science, pro-biotech organization March Against Myths..."[13]

Opposition to Breastfeeding Guidelines

In 2017, health researchers at Yale's School of Public Health published a letter to the editor of Forbes responding to a piece by Senapathy that sought to undermine breastfeeding guidelines by the World Health Organization.[14] "In Kavin Senapathy’s opinion article, the suggestion that the 2017 revised WHO Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) guidelines place newborns at risk of starvation or severe complications is not supported by the evidence of decades of research in the area of breastfeeding and human milk. We are deeply concerned because it could lead to serious misunderstandings for expecting parents and the general population."[15]

Forbes Contributions, Monsanto Ghostwriting and Retractions

Following revelations in the New York Times that Monsanto ghostwrote an article for Henry Miller,[16] Forbes removed several articles written by Miller and Senapathy.[17] Articles that Senapathy co-wrote with Miller were aggregated at the Hoover Institution, but the titles now lead to dead links.[18]

Senapathy also collaborated on an article published at Forbes with Cameron J. English, senior contributor at the Genetic Literacy Project, and Director of Bio-Sciences at the American Council on Science and Health.[19]

"The Fear Babe"

Senapathy co-authored a book with Mark Alsip and Marc Draco published by Senapath Press in 2015 called The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari's Glass House. The foreward of the book is written by Kevin Folta. In the book the authors declare genetically engineered food as necessary, food additives like aspartame and MSG are harmless, and claim to give readers the “facts behind those toxic pesticide scares.”[20] Jon Entine of the Genetic Literacy Project helped edit the book.[21]

Appearance in propaganda documentary Food Evolution

Along with Tamar Haspel, Karl Haro von Mogel and Kevin Folta Senapathy appeared in the documentary Food Evolution which promoted GMO agriculture and dismissed concerns about the dangers of glyphosate.[22] While the film received some favorable reviews, critics told Vice that the director is a "corporate shill" for presenting a biased film.[23] Forty-five prominent scientists, academics, and writers wrote a statement that blasted the film as a "piece of propaganda."[24] The film repeats a line from Monsanto that the pesticide glyphosate is "safe as table salt" while ignoring findings from the World Health Organization's cancer agency.[25] The film was commissioned by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) which has lobbied in favor of GMO agriculture and whose President has worked for Monsanto, DuPont, and CropLife, a lobby group.[26] Both Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan disavowed the film as propaganda.[27]

A Changing Stance on GMOs

Senapathy gained attention in 2019 for her article claiming that she was "lured into Monsanto's GMO Crusade" criticizing "GMO Gospel" and Monsanto's former Director of Millennial Engagement Vance Crowe. The end of the article discloses that she currently works with "Genome International, a family owned business since 1992," and in the past has "received travel and speaking funds from Monsanto parent-company Bayer."[28]

In an article for Slate in January, 2021 Senapathy writes, "Personally, I still love a good GMO—particularly Impossible burgers, made with yeast engineered to produce a protein that mimics blood—and so do many of my justice-driven allies." She summarizes her new outlook, "When it comes to the bigger picture, I prefer to take a more nuanced view of food systems, power dynamics, and legacies of colonialism, and look beyond the outlandish parts of opposition to science and technology to the evidence-based concerns. Sometimes solutions might involve genetic engineering, sometimes not."[29]

Former collaborator of Senapathy's, Cameron J. English wrote at the Genetic Literacy Project of her commentary in Slate, "...Senapathy approaches the issue from an ideological perspective..."[30]


Related SourceWatch articles

Sources

  1. ↑ Kavin Senapathy Author Page at Forbes, website, accessed Sept 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/#119c2d563782
  2. ↑ Kavin Senapathy Author Page at Science 2.0, website, accessed Sept 2017, http://www.science20.com/kavin_senapathy
  3. ↑ U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space & Technology: "Spinning Science & Silencing Scientists: A Case Study in How the Chemical Industry Attempts to Influence Science" February 2018 https://democrats-science.house.gov/sites/democrats.science.house.gov/files/documents/02.06.18%20-%20Spinning%20Science%20and%20Silencing%20Scientists_0.pdf
  4. ↑ Talking Biotech podcast, website, accessed September 2017, http://www.talkingbiotechpodcast.com/447/
  5. ↑ Monsanto blog, Fighting the hydra of science myths: an interview with Kavin Senapathy website, accessed Sept 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20190503205550/https://monsantoblog.eu/fighting-the-hydra-of-science-myths-an-interview-with-kavin-senapathy/
  6. ↑ Independent Women's Forum, August 24 2015 Scientist and Advocate Moms to Celeb Moms: Weigh GMO Food with Facts Not Fear http://www.iwf.org/media/2797993/Scientist-and-Advocate-Moms-to-Celeb-Moms:-Weigh-GMO-Food-with-Facts-Not-Fear-----
  7. ↑ Dr. Vandana Shiva, website, We don’t need Ketchum in our Mustard, http://vandanashiva.com/?p=321
  8. ↑ March Against Myths About Modification, website, About Us, http://www.mamyths.org/about-us/
  9. ↑ Independent Women's Forum, August 24 2015 Scientist and Advocate Moms to Celeb Moms: Weigh GMO Food with Facts Not Fear http://www.iwf.org/media/2797993/Scientist-and-Advocate-Moms-to-Celeb-Moms:-Weigh-GMO-Food-with-Facts-Not-Fear-----
  10. ↑ Eventbrite, Women Fighting the Culture of Alarmism: Come Meet the Science Defenders! Independent Women's Forum, Thursday, September 17, 2015 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/women-fighting-the-culture-of-alarmism-come-meet-the-science-defenders-tickets-18199373817
  11. ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, Women Fighting the Culture of Alarmism, https://cei.org/content/women-fighting-culture-alarmism
  12. ↑ Sick Of It All, 5 Astroturf Groups You Should Stop Sharing From http://endocriminal.blogspot.com/2016/01/5-astroturf-groups-you-should-stop.html
  13. ↑ Monsanto blog, Fighting the hydra of science myths: an interview with Kavin Senapathy website, accessed Sept 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20190503205550/https://monsantoblog.eu/fighting-the-hydra-of-science-myths-an-interview-with-kavin-senapathy/
  14. ↑ Yale School of Public Health, YSPH Team Responds to Opinion Piece Critical of Breastfeeding, website, accessed March 2018, http://publichealth.yale.edu/article.aspx?id=16135
  15. ↑ Yale School of Public Health, YSPH Team Responds to Opinion Piece Critical of Breastfeeding, website, accessed March 2018, http://publichealth.yale.edu/article.aspx?id=16135
  16. ↑ Danny Hakim, Monsanto Emails Raise Issue of Influencing Research on Roundup Weed Killer, New York Times, website, accessed Feb 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/business/monsantos-sway-over-research-is-seen-in-disclosed-emails.html?_r=0
  17. ↑ Stacy Malkan, Why Forbes Deleted Some Kavin Senapathy Articles, US Right to Know, website, accessed September 2017, https://usrtk.org/food-for-thought/kavin_senapathy_henry_miller/
  18. ↑ Kavin Senapathy Author Page at Hoover Institution, website, accessed Sept 2017, https://www.hoover.org/profiles/kavin-senapathy
  19. ↑ Cameron English and Kavin Senapathy, Insider Tips For Conversations With Those Who Reject Empirical Scientific Truths, Forbes, website, accessed Oct 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/2018/01/29/insider-tips-for-conversations-with-those-who-reject-empirical-scientific-truths/?sh=72e66f796192
  20. ↑ Articles tagged "Fear Babe", USRTK website, website, accessed Oct 2021, https://usrtk.org/tag/fear-babe/
  21. ↑ Cameron J English, "Viewpoint: Are GMOs a corporate ploy to colonize developing countries? Is vitamin-A enhanced Golden Rice a plot by ‘Western entities’ to control global agriculture? Here are the facts bungled in Slate commentary." Genetic Literacy Project, January 14, 2021
  22. ↑ Food Evolution (2016) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb website, accessed January 2020, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6188658/fullcredits
  23. ↑ Alex Swerdloff "This Documentary Wants to Teach People About GMOs, But Experts Call It Propaganda" Vice July 1, 2017
  24. ↑ Alex Swerdloff "This Documentary Wants to Teach People About GMOs, But Experts Call It Propaganda" Vice July 1, 2017
  25. ↑ Nathan Donley "Take pro-GMO film at OMSI with grain of salt (Guest opinion)" The Oregonian August 4, 2017
  26. ↑ Tim Schwab "Documentaries as Advertising: Corporate Interests Turn to Indie Docs for Influence; Audiences in the Dark" 100 Reporters December 20, 2019
  27. ↑ Alex Swerdloff "This Documentary Wants to Teach People About GMOs, But Experts Call It Propaganda" Vice July 1, 2017
  28. ↑ Kavin Senapathy, "I Was Lured Into Monsanto’s GMO Crusade. Here’s What I Learned." UnDark June 27, 2019
  29. ↑ Kavin Senapathy, "Why I Stopped Defending GMOs" Slate January 11, 2021
  30. ↑ Cameron J English, "Viewpoint: Are GMOs a corporate ploy to colonize developing countries? Is vitamin-A enhanced Golden Rice a plot by ‘Western entities’ to control global agriculture? Here are the facts bungled in Slate commentary." Genetic Literacy Project, January 14, 2021
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