[asia-apec 1785] PR Firms Target Food First

[Anuradha Mittal]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    

       
July 13, 2001 

CONTACT: Nick Parker
(510) 654-4400 (ext. 229)

Corporate Groups Use Leaked Grant Proposal to Attack GMO Foe Food First


(Oakland, CA)  Several corporate public relations groups are using a 
leaked grant proposal in an internet attack on the Oakland-based 
Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First.  
Food First is well known for it's research reports which cast doubts on 
biotech industry claims concerning the virtues of genetically engineered 
(GE) foods and crops, also known as GMOs 
(http://www.foodfirst.org/progs/global/biotech/index.html).

The attack began several days ago when a report on the leaked grant 
proposal was posted on the corporate public relations web site 
ePublicRelations (http://www.epublicrelations.org/).  The report, titled 
 "Food First seeks funding to discredit biotech industry: Small budget 
takes on entire industry," warned companies that, "while corporate PR 
folks shell out US $50,000, and more, a month in retainers, and 
participate in multi-million-dollar campaigns to lobby opinion leaders 
and get national media coverage, a special interest group is seeking a 
paltry US $150,000 per year for three years to bring the biotech 
industry to its knees."  The report goes on that while the biotech 
industry has enormous resources, "Food First has significant tactical 
and strategic advantages," because of its connections to real people at 
the grassroots.

The report was then picked up yesterday, July 12, by the Guest Choice 
Network, another corporate group, in an opinion piece titled "Foes of 
genetically improved foods go grant-shopping" 
(http://guestchoice.com/headlines_200107.html#0712).

This piece warns that "Food First wants $450,000 to team up with another 
group, called the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA). If 
their proposal is funded, these two groups would begin a national 
onslaught to try and shape public opinion against genetically improved 
foods. Their grant proposal describes how Food First and PANNA would 
forcefully argue that the best choices are 'none of the above,' neither 
genetic engineering nor pesticides, but rather biological pest control, 
integrated pest management, organic farming, and argoecology (sic)."   
The Guest Choice editorial was then circulated around the internet today 
on the corporate AgBioView electronic list serve.

"This corporate attack shows that they are nervous," said Dr. Peter 
Rosset, co-director of Food First/The Institute for Food and Development 
Policy, "because they fear that the facts -- the scientific data we have 
accumulated -- support our argument that we need to call a timeout from 
commercializing these potentially dangerous products, a timeout for real 
health and environmental safety testing."

"The work we seek funding for," said Ms. Anuradha Mittal, also 
co-director of Food First, "is called 'A Counter-Offensive of Reason."  
She went on to explain that "what we mean is reason is on our side.  No 
reasonable person would want unlabelled and untested novel genetic 
constructs in their food supply."   "What I think has them particularly 
worried," she added, "is our work surveying opinion in the Third world, 
where we have found that farmers and consumers strongly oppose 
genetically engineered food, despite the fact that industry tells us 
these countries 'need' these products, and therefore U.S consumers 
should accept them in the food supply."

Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy is a member 
supported, education for action policy think tank.  Founded in 1975, by 
Frances Moore LappÈ and Joseph Collins, following the success of Diet 
for a Small Planet, the Institute is known for its uncompromising 
progressive stance on issues related to food, hunger, poverty and 
environmental degradation around the world.

For more information, contact Nick Parker, Media Coordinator at (510) 
654-4400 (ext. 229).

###

Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst at foodfirst.org.

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