Title: Politics, Pseudoscience and Corporate Cash: The Defeat of Oregon
1Politics, Pseudoscience and Corporate Cash The
Defeat of Oregons Measure 27 (Requiring Labeling
of Genetically-Modified Foods)
- Martin Donohoe, MD, FACP
- Old Town Clinic
- Portland State University
- Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
2Measure 27
- November, 2002 Oregon ballot
- Required labeling of genetically-engineered foods
sold or distributed in the state - Wholesale and retail, e.g., supermarkets
- Not cafeterias, restaurants, prisons, bake sales,
etc.
3Measure 27
- Defeated 73 to 27
- Surprising, since multiple polls conducted by the
news media, government and industry show from
85-95 of US citizens favor labeling
4Measure 27
- Opponents outspent proponents 5.3 million to
200,000 - Vast majority of opposition funding from
corporations headquartered outside state - Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenia, Dow Agro Sciences,
BASF, Aventis, Hoechst, and Bayer Crop Science
5Measure 27
- Aided by PR and political professionals
- Hid behind scientific-sounding advocacy groups
e.g., The Council for Biotechnology Information
6Corporate Opposition to Measure 27
- Vested interest in spreading deliberate
misinformation about the initiative to keep the
public ignorant of the adverse consequences of
their profit-driven manipulation of the worlds
food supply
7Measure 27 Opponents Other Activities
- Chemical weapons
- Hoechst (mustard gas), Monsanto (Agent Orange),
Dow (napalm) - Pesticides
- Monsanto (DDT)
- Ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons
- Dupont and Hoechst major producers
- Agricultural Antibiotics
- Many companies
8Opposition Tactics
- Claimed measure would unfairly hurt Oregon
farmers, grocers, restaurants, schools and
non-profit groups - No commercial GE crops grown in Oregon
- Grocers, restaurants, schools and non-profit
groups not affected
9Opposition Tactics
- Funded commercial diatribes describing increased,
onerous and complicated government oversight - Frightened public with unfounded fears of tax
increases of up to 1500 per family - Realistic estimates 4 - 10/person/year
10Opposition Tactics
- Accused Measures supporters of being against
national policy and scientific consensus - Argued that labels would provide unreliable,
useless information that would unnecessarily
confuse, mislead and alarm consumers
11Opposition Tactics
- Claimed USDA, EPA and FDA evaluate safety of GE
products from inception to final approval - USDA deals with field testing, EPA with
environmental concerns, FDA considers GE foods
equivalent to non-GE foods - FDA (1992) Declared GM foods substantially
equivalent to regular foods
12Opposition Tactics
- All rely on safety tests done by companies making
GE products - Corporations are not required to report results
to government
13Corporations Dominate Oregon Politics
- Oregon corporate income taxes have decreased by
40 over the past 12 years - Lowest corporate taxes of any Western state
- Corporations outspend labor unions 5-1 and
massively outspend all other progressive groups
and causes put together - Oregon is one of only six states to allow
unlimited corporate campaign contributions
14Post-Measure 27 Activities
- Ongoing vigorous lobbying campaign to pass bill
pre-empting any locality in Oregon from passing a
labeling bill - Nationwide lawsuits against farmers
- Supported by 75 employee, 10 million legal
division at Monsanto - Most farmers settle settlement terms often sealed
15Food Labeling in the U.S.
- Vitamin, mineral, caloric and fat content
- Sulfites (allergies)
- Source of proteins (vegetarians)
16GE Food Labeling Worldwide
- Most processed foods available in the U.S. today
come from GM crops - European Union has required labeling since 1998
17GE Food Labeling Worldwide
- Japan, China, Australia, and many other countries
also require labels - Many countries ban the import of GE foods from
the U.S. and elsewhere - EU considering lifting ban U.S. suing E.U.
through WTO
18Benefits of Labeling GE Foods
- Prevent allergic reactions
- Soybeans modified with Brazil nut genes
- Allow vegetarians to avoid animal genes
- Tomatoes with flounder genes
- Permit concerned individuals to avoid milk from
rBGH-treated cattle - Risks to humans, cattle and the environment
19Benefits of Labeling GE Foods
- Heighten public awareness of genetic engineering
- Millions of Americans eat GM foods every day
without knowing it - Only 24 of Americans believe they have eaten GM
foods
20Benefits of Labeling GE Foods
- Grant people freedom to choose what they eat
based on individual willingness to confront risk - Ensure healthy public debate over the merits of
genetic modification of foodstuffs
21Health and Environmental Risks of GE Foods
- Allergies and toxicities from new proteins
entering the food supply - EMS from GE-L-tryptophan supplements in 1980s
- FDA covered up
- Bt corn increases sensitivity of mammals to other
allergens - GM peas cause lung inflammation in mice trial
stopped - New, allergenic proteins in GE soy in South Korea
22Health and Environmental Risks of GE Foods
- Secret Monsanto report found that rats fed a diet
rich in GM corn had smaller kidneys and unusually
high white blood cell counts - Russian Academy of Sciences report found up to
six-fold increase in death and severe underweight
in infants of mothers fed GM soy
23Health and Environmental Risks of GE Foods
- Altered nutritional value of foodstuffs
- Transfer of antibiotic resistance genes into
intestinal bacteria or other organisms,
contributing to antibiotic resistance in human
pathogens
24Health and Environmental Risks of GE Foods
- Increased pesticide use when pests inevitably
develop resistance to GE food toxins - Reproductive and neurotoxic effects
- Greater herbicide use confirmed by multiple
studies - Glyphosphate and Roundup toxic to placenta
25GM crops and Pesticide Use
- Overall pesticide use up 4.1 (122 million pound
increase since 1996) - Pesticide use down in Bt crops, herbicide use up
in herbicide-tolerant (e.g., Roundup Ready) crops
26Bt Plants
- Bt cotton destroyed by mealy bug harvests in
India decline dramatically, leading to rash of
suicides among farmers - Bt corn more susceptible to aphids
- Monsanto pays fines for bribing Indonesian and
Turkish officials to accept Bt plants
27Health and Environmental Risks of GE Foods
- Acrylamide released from polyacrylamide (added to
commercial herbicide mixtures to reduce spray
drift) neurotoxin, reproductive toxin, and
carcinogen - Non-target insects dying from exposure to
pesticide-resistant crops - Ripple effects on other organisms
28Health and Environmental Risks of GE Foods
- Genes, initially designed to protect crops from
herbicides, being transferred to native weeds - Create herbicide-resistant superweeds (8
species identified by 2005, 5 in the U.S.) - Herbicide-resistant oilseed rape has transferred
gene to charlock weeks in U.K. - Glyphosate (Roundup)-resistant pigweed in MO and
GA, ryegrass in CA, maretail in multiple states
29Health and Environmental Risks of GE Foods
- GE plants and animals interbreeding with wild
relatives - Spread novel genes into wild populations
- Herbicide-resistant oilseed rape genes found in
turnips - 21 of U.S. farmers in violation of EPA rule
requiring GE fields to contain at least 20
non-GE crop - ¼ to 1/3 of Mexican corn samples contaminated
Columbian coca plants
30Failure of Regulatory Oversight
- The Department of Agriculture has failed to
regulate field trials of GE crops adequately - Department of Agricultures Office of Inspector
General, 1/06
31Biopharming
- The engineering of plants to produce
pharmaceuticals such as enzymes, antibiotics,
contraceptives, abortifacients, chemotherapeutic
agents, other medications, and vaccines - Other organisms
- Fish tilapia/clotting factor VII
- Cattle biopharming via milk
32Biopharming
- 400 products under development
- Over 300 open-air tests
33Biopharming
- USDA conceals crop locations from public and
neighboring farmers, in most cases hides identity
of drug or chemical being tested, citing trade
secrets
34Biopharming
- Even state agriculture regulators often unaware
of info re drug or chemical involved - HI judge ordered USDA to disclose location of
biopharmed crops as part of lawsuit
35Biopharming
- 10 states Puerto Rico others soon
- Hawaii most tests most fragile ecosystem
- Cases of food crop contamination reported
36Famine and GE Foods
- Food dictators who control GE seeds and plants
attempted, through the UNFAO and the WHO, to use
the famines in Zambia and Angola to market GE
foods through aid programs, even though - More than 45 African (and other) countries
expressed a willingness to supply local, non-GE
relief
37Famine and GE Foods
- Zambia and Angola did not wish to pollute its
crops with GE foods, which would have prevented
it from exporting home-grown crops to many other
countries which do not accept GE imports (further
weakening its already fragile economy) - Zimbabwe and Malawi have also refused GM food aid
38GE Foods and World Hunger
- GE foods promoted as the solution to world hunger
- Undermine food and nutritional security, food
sovereignty and food democracy
39GE Foods and World Hunger
- Increasing reliance on GE food
- Consolidates corporate control of agriculture
- Transmogrifies farmers into bioserfs
- World hunger will not be solved through
large-scale molecular manipulation of food crops
whose cultivation has been carefully perfected
over 10,000 years
40GE Foods and World Hunger
- There is already enough food to feed the planet
- UN FAO Enough food to provide over 2700
calories/day to every person - Feeding everyone requires political and social
will - Irony that the U.S., home to many GE firms, has
rates of child poverty and hunger among the
highest in the industrialized world
41Solutions
- Outlaw GM crops
- Labeling laws
- Allow informed consumer choice
- Rep. Dennis Kucinichs House bills to require
labeling, expand FDA oversight, increase
regulations re biopharming, and expand research
to help developing nations feed themselves
42Solutions
- Expose and oppose industry attempts to pre-empt
labeling initiatives/laws - New ballot initiatives and legislation
- Marin, Mendocino and Trinity Counties (CA) ban
GMO crops - Vermont now requires manufacturers of GM seeds to
label and register their products - Ireland pledges to go GM-free 2007
- Scotland, Austria and Greece prohibit planting of
GM organisms - Moscow now requires labeling of GM foods
43Solutions
- Campaign finance reform
- Public education
- Sound environmental education to counter
corporate-sponsored curricula and greenwash - Activism
- e.g., Oregon PSRs Campaign for Safe Foods
Biopharm Bill, rBGH Campaign
44Solutions
- Support local, organic agriculture and patronize
farmers markets - Consumer-supported agriculture co-ops
- Consumers willing to pay substantial premiums to
avoid GE foods
45Solutions
- Oppose IMF, World Bank, and WTO structural
adjustment programs which exacerbate hunger in
the developing world by forcing debtor nations to
restructure their agricultural base toward export
crops and away from nutritional foodstuffs for
local consumption
46Solutions
- Support increased research and subsidies for
alternative agriculture - Support equitable distribution of agricultural
resources among populations worldwide - Support increased, non-GM agricultural aid to
developing nations
47Reference/Website
- Donohoe MT. Genetically-Modified Foods Health
and Environmental Risks and the Corporate
Agribusiness Agenda. Z Magazine 2006
(December)35-40. Available at http//zmagsite.zma
g.org/Dec2006/donohoe1206.html - Campaign for Safe Food, Oregon Physicians for
Social Responsibility http//www.oregonpsr.org/pr
ograms/campaignSafeFood.html
48Contact Information
- Public Health and Social Justice Website
- http//www.phsj.org
- martindonohoe_at_phsj.org