Our series of fact sheets shines light on the pesticide industry’s hidden propaganda network: the front groups, academics, journalists and others the pesticide companies rely on for their PR and product-defense campaigns.
By Stacy Malkan (updated May 17, 2019) DeWayne Johnson, a 46-year-old father dying of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was the first person to face Monsanto in trial in 2018 over allegations the company hid evidence about the cancer-causing dangers of its Roundup weedkiller. Juries have since returned with three unanimous verdicts finding that glyphosate-based Roundup herbicides were … Secret Documents Expose Monsanto’s War on Cancer Scientists
By Stacy Malkan When a reputable-sounding nonprofit organization released a report attacking the organic food industry in April 2014, the group went to great lengths to tout its independence. The 30-page report by Academics Review, described as “a non-profit led by independent academic experts in agriculture and food sciences,” found that consumers were being duped into spending more … Monsanto fingerprints found all over attack on organic food
Academics Review, a nonprofit organization launched in 2012, claimed to be an independent group, but documents obtained by U.S. Right to Know revealed it was a front group, set up with the help of Monsanto executives and public relations operatives, to attack the organic industry and critics of GMOs — while appearing to be independent. … Academics Review: The making of a Monsanto front group to attack the organic industry
GMO Answers is billed as a forum where consumers can get straight answers from independent experts about genetically engineered foods (GMOs) and pesticides. Some journalists have taken it seriously as an unbiased source. But the evidence shows that GMO Answer is an industry funded marketing tool to spin GMOs in a positive light. Documents described … GMO Answers is a marketing campaign funded by pesticide companies
The Alliance for Science is a public relations campaign that trains spokespeople and creates networks of influence, particularly in African countries, to persuade the public and policymakers to accept GMOs and pesticides. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the effort in 2014 with a $5.6 million grant and has since donated $22 million to … Gates-funded ‘Alliance for Science’ accused of peddling misinformation
Drew Kershen, professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, is a close ally of the agrichemical industry. He argues for deregulation of genetically engineered plants and animals and against transparency. Kershen has played a key role in agrichemical industry-funded promotional efforts and front groups that lobby for industry interests. Kershen does not … Drew Kershen: agrichemical industry front group ringleader
The Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) was a public relations campaign launched in April 2000 by seven leading chemical/seed companies and their trade groups to persuade the public to accept genetically engineered foods. The initiative — created in response to public concerns about the health and environmental risks of genetically engineered foods — said its … CBI, GMO Answers, CropLife: pesticide industry PR salvos
Alison Van Eenennaam, PhD, a Professor of Cooperative Extension in Animal Biotechnology and Genomics at University of California, Davis, is a leading promoter of genetically engineered animals, crops and the pesticides that accompany them, and an advocate for deregulation. Dr. Van Eenennaam is a former Monsanto employee who opposes requiring safety studies for genetically engineered … Alison Van Eenennaam: key outside spokesperson and lobbyist for the pesticide and GMO industries
Kevin Folta, Ph.D., a professor in the Horticulture Sciences Department at University of Florida, has provided inaccurate information and engaged in misleading activities in his efforts to promote genetically engineered foods and pesticides. He is a senior contributing columnist to the Genetic Literacy Project, a chemical industry promotion group that receives funding from Bayer. He … The misleading ways of Dr. Kevin Folta
In 2021, the Society for Professional Journalists, NorCal chapter, honored U.S. Right to Know with the James Madison Freedom of Information Awards for our work obtaining internal corporate documents that showed how Monsanto recruited public university professors to support its PR goals. Concerned that our research would uncover its influence in academic circles, Monsanto “created … Monsanto’s campaign against U.S. Right To Know: Read the documents
In a confidential public relations plan dated February 2015, Monsanto laid out is plans to discredit the World Health Organization’s cancer research unit, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A month later, the international group of experts judged glyphosate — the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer — to be probably carcinogenic … Monsanto relied on these ‘partners’ to attack top cancer scientists
AgBioChatter is a private email listserver used by the agrichemical industry and its allies to coordinate messaging and lobbying activities. List members include pro-industry academics, senior agrichemical industry staff and public relations operatives. This internal Monsanto document identifies “Academics (AgBioChatter)” as a Tier 2 “industry partner” in Monsanto’s public relations plan to discredit the World … AgBioChatter: Where Corporations, Academics Plotted Strategy on GMOs, Pesticides
Originally posted May 2019; updated November 2020 Public relations firms Bayer AG and Monsanto relied on to deflect cancer concerns about glyphosate — including FTI consulting, Ketchum PR and FleishmanHillard — have long histories of using deceptive tactics to promote pesticide, tobacco and oil industry interests. Updates FTI Consulting’s shady tactics for the oil industry: Based on … Bayer’s shady PR firms: FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, FTI Consulting
Tamar Haspel is a freelance journalist who has been writing monthly food columns for the Washington Post since October 2013. Her columns frequently promote and defend pesticide industry products, while she also receives payments to speak at industry-aligned events, and sometimes from industry groups. This practice of journalists receiving payments from industry groups, known as … How Tamar Haspel Misleads Readers of the Washington Post
Keith Kloor is a freelance journalist and an adjunct journalism faculty member at New York University who has written for Nature, Science Insider, Slateand dozens of articles for Discover Magazinepromoting genetically engineered foods and attacking critics of the pesticide industry, while also assisting industry public relations efforts behind the scenes. Emails obtained by U.S. Right … Keith Kloor: How a science journalist worked behind the scenes with industry allies
The Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI), a major public relations initiative launched two decades ago by leading agrichemical companies to persuade the public to accept GMOs and pesticides, has shut down. A spokesperson confirmed via email that CBI “dissolved at the end of 2019, and its assets, including the GMO Answers platform, were transferred to … Key pesticide industry PR group CBI closes; GMO Answers moves to CropLife
Val Giddings, PhD, is a key player in agrichemical industry efforts to oppose transparency and safety regulations for genetically engineered foods and pesticides. Emails obtained by U.S. Right to Know and posted in the UCSF Chemical Industry Documents Library indicate that Dr. Giddings helped set up a corporate front group and played a key behind-the-scenes … Val Giddings: Top Operative for the Agrichemical Industry
Dear Professor Folta: Yesterday there was some news coverage and commentary about our use of the state Freedom of Information Acts to obtain the correspondence of professors who wrote for the agrichemical industry’s PR website, GMO Answers. We’re glad to have a public conversation about this topic with the professors involved. We believe that transparency … An Open Letter to Professor Kevin Folta on FOIA Requests
Also see: Buckraking on the Food Beat: When is it a conflict of interest? Washington Post Food Columnist Goes to Bat for Monsanto On September 23rd, Washington Post food columnist Tamar Haspel admitted to receiving “plenty” of money from pro-agrichemical industry sources. Following her admission, I thought it might be useful to report on journalists … A Short Report on Journalists Mentioned in our FOIA Requests
This article by Stacy Malkan original appeared in The Ecologist The founders of Cornell University, Andrew D. White and Ezra Cornell, dreamed of creating a great university that took a radical approach to learning. Their revolutionary spirit, and the promise to pursue knowledge for the greater good, is said to be at the heart of … Why is Cornell University Hosting a GMO Propaganda Campaign?
By Carey Gillam Former University of Illinois food science professor Bruce Chassy is known for his academic gravitas. Now retired nearly four years, Chassy still writes and speaks often about food safety issues, identifying himself with the full weight of the decades of experience earned at the public university and as a researcher at the … Following an Email Trail: How a Public University Professor Collaborated on a Corporate PR Campaign
BIO – key facts The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), formerly the Biotechnology Industry Organization, is a trade association representing over1,000 companies and industry groups including pesticide, pharmaceutical and biotech corporations. The group markets genetic engineering as a solution to “heal the world, fuel the world, feed the world,” and it organizes lobbying committees in 15 … Agrichemical Trade Groups: Biotechnology Innovation Organization and Council for Biotechnology Information
A version of this article was first published in Common Ground Magazine March 2018 (PDF version) . By Stacy Malkan Everyone loves a feel-good story about the future. You’ve probably heard this one: high-tech foods enhanced by science will feed the 9 billion people expected on the planet by 2050. Food made in labs and … Are You Ready for the New Wave of Genetically Engineered Foods?
