Tamar Haspel

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Tamar Haspel is a freelance writer, best known for her Washington Post columns, where she advocates for genetically modified organisms (GMO) agriculture, and for her conflicts of interest in receiving speaking fees from GMO interests. Food and Water Watch describes Haspel as an opinion writer who has not been shy about trumpeting what she sees as the benefits of GMOs.[1] On one occasion, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, who is an organic farmer, and Anna Lappé, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post countering disinformation that Haspel had written about the food movement.[2]

In August 2019, the HuffPost reported on 130 pages of internal documents from the PR firm Ketchum that showed Haspel collaborating with them to promote GMO agriculture.[3][4] Ketchum saw Haspel's reporting as a success for their campaign and wrote that they planned “ongoing development of relationships” with Haspel.[5]

Haspel has criticized public information requests through FOIA to uncover hidden ties between university researchers, such as Kevin Folta, and industry. When US Right to Know sent a FOIA to Kevin Folta, demanding to see his communications with industry groups such as Monsanto, Haspel tweeted, "The money/time/brainpower wasted on @garyruskin’s mean-spirited, self-interested attack on @kevinfolta! Can we move on to something useful?”[6] Months later, the New York Times ran a front page story on Folta's ties to Monsanto, based on emails uncovered by US Right to Know.[7] In April 2018, the University of California at San Francisco acquired these emails as part of their archive on industry documents.[8] Tamar Haspel's name appears in 51 of the industry documents.


Controversies

Haspel hss been noted for ties to front groups and corporate PR. For example, the website Sense About Science USA features this quote from Haspel, "“I live in fear of being taken in by poor-quality research, and STATS is invaluable to me”[9] In a 2016 expose of Sense About Science USA, The Intercept reported that Sense About Science does not always disclose when the scientists it cites on controversial matters have ties to industries, and that the group takes positions that buck scientific consensus or dismiss emerging evidence of harm. "When journalists rightly ask who sponsors research into the risks of, say, asbestos, or synthetic chemicals, they’d be well advised to question the evidence Sense About Science presents in these debates as well."[10]

GMO Advocacy

While Tamar writes about food for the Washington Post, she has written repeatedly about GMOs, every time in a manner which seems to defend corporations, while seldom disclosing that the sources she quotes work for industry. For example, in one column, she wrote about Monsanto's pesticide glyphosate, quoting Keith Solomon, an environmental toxicologist and professor emeritus at the University of Guelph in Ontario.[11] Tamar did not disclose that Keith Solomon is a consultant to Monsanto.[12] Haspel's article was then promoted by the Genetic Literacy Project and the American Council on Science and Health. A week after Haspel’s story, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing to examine GMO technology and the potential dangers of glyphosate. While putting together talking points to influence Senate staffers, a lobbyist for BIO emailed his colleagues, “Also — I formatted the Tamar Haspel piece on Round-up that ran in the Post last week as a handout in case it’s helpful; She does a great job of putting the IARC issue into context.”[13]

In a second example, Tamar's column that downplayed the food movement was oddly timed to coincide with Monsanto's attempt to stop labeling of GMO foods.[14]In a report titled "A Short Report on Journalists Mentioned in our FOIA Requests" US Right to Know mentioned that Haspel has been critical of attempts to uncover hidden industry ties of academics.[15]

Along with Keith Kloor, Kevin Folta, and Jon Entine, Tamar served as a panelist at the 2014 conference on GMOs hosted by Academics Review and the Genetic Literacy Project. The conference was funded by industry, and the organizers described the journalists attending as "partners" and offered them honoraria of $2500.[16] After the 2014 conference, Cami Ryan sent an email to the other organizers that summarized the conference evaluations. She wrote that attendees wanted "More Haspel-ish/Ropeik-ish sessions (this social scientist concurs)".[17] Ropeik-ish refers David Ropeik. In a statement to HuffPost in September 2019, Bayer said that the company “no longer provides financial support” to the Genetic Literacy Project.[18]

When Ketchum PR sponsored a panel on science and the public at the National Press Club, Tamar Haspel was one of the three journalists chosen to appear on a panel, along with Keith Kloor. When Atlantic contributor David Freedman, found out that the panel had been sponsored by Ketchum PR, he canceled his appearance.[19]

Buckraking on the Beat

Tamar's payments for speaking at GMO seminars had created allegations that she is buckraking on the beat.[20] She has also spoken at the Cornell Alliance for Science which has been noted as a PR front for GMOs, junk food, and pesticides.[21] When questioned about her speaking fees from industry, Haspel replied in a sarcastic manner that she receives "plenty" of money from corporate front groups.[22] When Huffington Post asked Haspel about her speaking fees, she declined to respond.[23]

Discussing Haspel's speaking, Food and Water Watch noted that Haspel does not disclose who actually pays her, nor how much she receives for speaking gigs that often cheerlead for GMO agriculture. "For all the ethical rationalizations some science writers make to justify their participation in industry-backed GMO events, there is a big blind spot. You don’t hear them discussing the appropriate level of financial engagement with GMO critics. That’s because GMO critics don’t have anywhere near the resources as the biotechnology industry, which spends untold sums of money wooing journalists, lobbying Congress, and funding academic research."[24] In a talk for the Canadian Food Law and Policy conference, journalist Paul Thacker noted that Haspel's conflicts of interest and disclosure policy regarding her speaking gigs leaves much to be desired.[25]

Appearance in propaganda documentary Food Evolution

Along with Kavin Senapathy, 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.[26] While the film received some favorable reviews, critics told Vice that the director is a "corporate shill" for presenting a biased film.[27] Forty-five prominent scientists, academics, and writers wrote a statement that blasted the film as a "piece of propaganda."[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] Both Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan disavowed the film as propaganda.[31]

Article and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

References

  1. ↑ Tim Schwab, Food and Water Watch, January 1, 2015, accessed January 2018, Crashing the Pro-GMO Party https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/crashing-pro-gmo-party
  2. ↑ Chellie Pingree and Anna Lappé, Washington Post, February, 4, 2016, accessed January 2018, The food movement is small? Not from where we sit, it isn’t. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-food-movement-is-small-not-from-where-we-sit-it-isnt/2016/02/04/cd20150c-cb75-11e5-a7b2-5a2f824b02c9_story.html?utm_term=.389a2eb016cb
  3. ↑ Paul D. Thacker "An Inside Look At How Monsanto, A PR Firm And A Reporter Give Readers A Warped View Of Science: Dogged for years by bad press, Monsanto hit reboot with Ketchum." HuffPost August 6, 2019
  4. ↑ Ken Silverstein "Busted: Internal Documents From Lobbying Firm Show Washington Post Reporter in Tank for Monsanto." Washington Babylon August 7, 2019
  5. ↑ Paul D. Thacker "An Inside Look At How Monsanto, A PR Firm And A Reporter Give Readers A Warped View Of Science: Dogged for years by bad press, Monsanto hit reboot with Ketchum." HuffPost August 6, 2019
  6. ↑ Tim Schwab, Food and Water Watch, January 1, 2015, accessed January 2018, Crashing the Pro-GMO Party https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/crashing-pro-gmo-party
  7. ↑ Eric Lipton, New York Times, Food Industry Enlisted Academics in G.M.O. Lobbying War, Emails Show, September 5, 2015, accessed May 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/us/food-industry-enlisted-academics-in-gmo-lobbying-war-emails-show.html
  8. ↑ University of California-San Francisco, UCSF Chemical Industry Documents Adds Monsanto Papers and Agrichemical Industry Documents, April 18, 2018, accessed May 2018, https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/wpost/ucsf-chemical-industry-documents-expands/
  9. ↑ Sense About Science USA, STATScheck accessed March 2018, http://senseaboutscienceusa.org/statscheck-help-journalists/
  10. ↑ Liza Gross, SEEDING DOUBT How Self-Appointed Guardians of “Sound Science” Tip the Scales Toward Industry, The Intercept, November 15, 2016 https://theintercept.com/2016/11/15/how-self-appointed-guardians-of-sound-science-tip-the-scales-toward-industry/
  11. ↑ Tamar Haspel, Washington Post , October 4, 2015, accessed Aug 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/its-the-chemical-monsanto-depends-on-how-dangerous-is-it/2015/10/04/2b8f58ee-67a0-11e5-9ef3-fde182507eac_story.html?utm_term=.8587e7f3ed93
  12. ↑ Alyssa Navarro , Tech Times , December 8, 2015, accessed Aug 2016, http://www.techtimes.com/articles/114226/20151208/scientists-hired-by-monsanto-say-weed-killer-glyphosate-does-not-cause-cancer.htm
  13. ↑ Paul D. Thacker "CORPORATE INFLUENCE IN FOOD SCIENCE AND POLICY" Medium November 8, 2019
  14. ↑ Stacy Malkan, FAIR, accessed August 2017, Washington Post’s Food Columnist Goes to Bat for Monsanto—Againhttp://fair.org/home/washington-posts-food-columnist-goes-to-bat-for-monsanto-again/
  15. ↑ US Right to Know, "A Short Report on Journalists Mentioned in our FOIA Requests" accessed August 2017, https://usrtk.org/gmo/a-short-report-on-journalists-mentioned-in-our-foias/
  16. ↑ Paul D. Thacker, The Progressive, accessed August 2017, http://progressive.org/magazine/how-the-biotech-industry-cultivates-positive-media/
  17. ↑ Chemical Industry Documents at UCSF (page 18), https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/chemical/docs/#id=xnbm0226
  18. ↑ Paul D. Thacker "Monsanto’s Spies: The agri-chemical giant has a storied history of using shady tactics to attack critics and influence the media." HuffPost September 14, 2019
  19. ↑ Paul D. Thacker, HuffPost, accessed January 2018, Monsanto’s Media Machine Comes To Washington https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/monsanto-scientific-american_us_56fc41d7e4b083f5c606a649
  20. ↑ Stacy Malkan, FAIR, accessed August 2017, Buckraking on the Food Beat: When Is It a Conflict of Interest?http://fair.org/home/buckraking-on-the-food-beat-when-is-it-a-conflict-of-interest/
  21. ↑ Sophia Johnson, Salon, accessed September 2017, 6 ways this Ivy League university is acting like a PR firm for junk food, GMOs and pesticideshttp://www.salon.com/2017/08/27/6-ways-this-ivy-league-university-is-acting-like-a-pr-firm-for-junk-food-gmos-and-pesticides_partner/
  22. ↑ Gary Ruskin, Alternet, accessed September 2017, 3 Journalists Who Are Disturbingly Cozy with the Agrichemical Industry http://www.alternet.org/food/journalists-who-have-close-ties-food-and-agriculture-industry
  23. ↑ Paul D. Thacker "An Inside Look At How Monsanto, A PR Firm And A Reporter Give Readers A Warped View Of Science: Dogged for years by bad press, Monsanto hit reboot with Ketchum." HuffPost August 6, 2019
  24. ↑ Tim Schwab, Food and Water Watch, What a Masked Academic Crusader Says About GMO Journalism, November 15, 2015, accessed January 2018, https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/what-masked-academic-crusader-says-about-gmo-journalism
  25. ↑ Paul D. Thacker "CORPORATE INFLUENCE IN FOOD SCIENCE AND POLICY" Medium November 8, 2019
  26. ↑ Food Evolution (2016) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb website, accessed January 2020, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6188658/fullcredits
  27. ↑ Alex Swerdloff "This Documentary Wants to Teach People About GMOs, But Experts Call It Propaganda" Vice July 1, 2017
  28. ↑ Alex Swerdloff "This Documentary Wants to Teach People About GMOs, But Experts Call It Propaganda" Vice July 1, 2017
  29. ↑ Nathan Donley "Take pro-GMO film at OMSI with grain of salt (Guest opinion)" The Oregonian August 4, 2017
  30. ↑ Tim Schwab "Documentaries as Advertising: Corporate Interests Turn to Indie Docs for Influence; Audiences in the Dark" 100 Reporters December 20, 2019
  31. ↑ Alex Swerdloff "This Documentary Wants to Teach People About GMOs, But Experts Call It Propaganda" Vice July 1, 2017
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