Genetic Engineering

Store Wars: Return of the GMO Lobby

by Diane Farsetta — July 5, 2005 - 4:03pm

"Saying their livelihoods are threatened, powerful forces that drive California's $27 billion agricultural economy are mobilizing to defeat a November ballot initiative to ban biotech crops in Sonoma County, and possibly even prohibit such county bans with new legislation in coming days," reports the Sacramento Bee.

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Sacramento Bee, July 3, 2005

Biotech Industry Uses Fake Famine To Promote GM Food

by Laura Miller — June 20, 2005 - 4:43pm

" The PR exploitation of drought and hunger in Zambia shows that for the [genetically modified (GM) food] lobby there are no limits, even when it involves rewriting history and manufacturing crimes against humanity," GM Watch's Jonathan Matthews writes. In 2002, Zambia sparked a firestorm when it refused to accept U.S. donations of GM corn to offset a looming famine. The Zambia government had concerns about the safety of GM foods.

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Freezerbox.com, June 20, 2005

Sowing Seeds of Discontent

by Diane Farsetta — May 27, 2005 - 3:47pm

"Close to 100 New England towns have passed resolutions opposing the unregulated use of GMOs (genetically modified organisms); nearly a quarter of these have called for local moratoria on the planting of GMO seeds.

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CounterPunch, May 26, 2005

The CORE of Biotech PR

by Laura Miller — April 5, 2005 - 11:18pm

U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto recently announced it was raising its earnings expectations. "Monsanto's genetically engineered seed sales are booming - a 20 per cent increase last quarter - and the company expects the growth to continue as it expands outside the U.S.," AP reported. One reason may be Monsanto's extensive use of PR.

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Freezerbox, March 14, 2005

Biotech Critic Denied Tenure at UC Berkeley

by Laura Miller — December 14, 2004 - 8:32pm

Dr. Ignacio Chapela, whose research revealed contamination of native Mexican corn with genetically engineered DNA, taught his last class at University of California, Berkeley. Chapela was denied tenure at Berkeley, despite "overwhelming support from his own department and from his academic peers," GM Watch founder Jonathan Matthews writes. Chapela had also been a critic of a $25 million research deal between UC Berkeley and the Swiss biotechnology company Novartis (now Syngenta).

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SpinWatch, December 14, 2004

Modify the Apples Without Upsetting the Cart

by Diane Farsetta — October 28, 2004 - 11:00pm

The debate around genetically modified organisms "is fragmenting global food markets and putting political pressure on food exporters to choose between producing natural" or GMO crops. As "big biotech companies ... are looking for growth opportunities in Asia to compensate for the problems they have encountered in European markets," Thailand developed "a seven-year plan to ... [become] a regional biotech hub." The Thai government "commissioned a team of U.S.

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Wall Street Journal (reg. req'd.), October 29, 2004

Planting Seeds of Acceptance for GMOs

by Diane Farsetta — October 5, 2004 - 11:00pm

"U.S. companies like Monsanto, which invested heavily in [genetically modified crops], suffered huge losses when Europe balked. As part of a public relations effort, the U.S.

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International Herald Tribune, October 6, 2004

Growing Market Opposition to GMO Referenda

by Diane Farsetta — August 15, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Worried that county bans on biotech crops could spread throughout the state, mainstream farm groups from the California Cattlemen's Association to the national Farm Bureau are marshaling their resources," reports the Sacramento Bee.

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Sacramento Bee, August 16, 2004

Industry Warned of Activist Threat

by Laura Miller — June 20, 2004 - 11:00pm

"One of the most compelling speakers at the recent Biotechnology Industry Organization conference ... wasn't a researcher or a venture capitalist, but a representative of a special agency with the FBI," Paul Holmes writes for PR Week.

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PR Week, June 21, 2004

Unspinning the Web of Corporate Influence

by Laura Miller — June 14, 2004 - 11:00pm

When it comes to stealthy PR campaigns, the biotech industry has spared no expense. For the past six years, the UK-based public interest group GM Watch has been tracking and documenting biotech's dirty tricks, learning that the PR web reaches further than just GM food.

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http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=30&page=1
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