PR Watch, Fourth Quarter 1999, Volume 6, No. 4

The current campaign by agribusiness to win public approval for genetically modified foods gives new meaning to the phrase, "the carrot and the stick."

The carrot in this campaign consists of promises that biotechnology means better food, a cleaner environment, and prosperity for struggling farmers. The stick consists of lawsuits and threats of lawsuits against biotech's critics--now made easier with the "agricultural product disparagement laws" that industry has lobbied into law in more than a dozen states.

by Karen Charman

The biotech industry has chosen a slam dunk strategy to gain public acceptance for its products: Slip unlabeled genetically engineered food into the food supply and hope too many people don't notice or object. Deal with those who do notice and object with an army of "experts" that stand ready to refute any criticisms or critics of the technology. If a lot of people start to object, by that time it should be too late because much of the food supply will already be genetically engineered.

Executives at the Burson-Marsteller PR firm are saying as little as possible about their pro-biotech PR campaign for the Monsanto company. Jerry Morrison, a longtime consumer and labor organizer who now runs a firm called the Strategic Consulting Group, says he didn't even know Monsanto was the end client when B-M hired him in early November to pitch local groups about the merits of genetically modified foods.

Morrison has especially close ties with Citizen Action of Illinois, the state's leading consumer organization.

by Karen Charman

Tom Hoban is a man with a mission: to convince people to embrace genetically engineered food. I had the opportunity to experience this firsthand at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) annual conference in New York City in June 1998 while we were lining up for lunch. Seeing the press pass dangling around my neck, he made a beeline for me and proceeded to attempt to educate me about the wonders of food biotechnology.

That might not seem strange--plenty of people push biotech--but Hoban is not a public relations flack or salesman at a company peddling biotech food. He is a professor in the sociology department at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Hoban specializes in consumer behavior and the psychology of conflict, a position that gives him a veneer (but only a thin veneer) of objectivity.

by Karen Charman

Monsanto and other corporate proponents of genetic engineering are using a form of emotional blackmail to get people to accept this new technology. They claim biotechnology will be a savior and fix many of the very real and pressing problems that the Monsantos of the world created in the first place.

Monsanto's past record as a chemical manuufacturer does not inspire confidence in its environmental stewardship.

by Karen Charman

Dennis T. Avery, author of the tract "Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic," proudly describes himself as a missionary. His mission: to protect and promote "high-yield farming to save wildlife."

Besides writing a nationally syndicated weekly column for the financial newswire Bridge News, Avery is also the director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues.