BIO Meeting Picketed as Biotech Defended

June 25, 2001

As the food biotechnology industry defended genetically engineered products at a weekend meeting in San Diego, activists held aloft a 1,500 square-foot banner reading, "Biotech Perverts -- Get Out of Our Genes". The actions came during the annual conference of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) that drew representatives from agriculture, health and biotechnology industries.

Declaring "America's consumers deserve to hear the truth about agricultural biotechnology and its environmental and economic benefits," food industry spokesperson Gene Grabowski opened a panel discussion of biotech foods. "We're here to serve as a truth squad," said Grabowski, vice president of communications for the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA). "Agricultural biotechnology brings real and tangible results to consumers, farmers and the environment."

Grabowski said the "truth squad" was formed to counter the misinformation campaign of anti-biotech demonstrators assembled in San Diego. The "squad" includes San Diego County citrus farmer Al Stehly, Iowa soybean and corn farmer Reg Clause, registered dietician Karen Kafer and Dr. Michael J. Phillips, executive director of food and agriculture at BIO.

"As a farmer growing biotech corn and soybeans I can attest first hand to two very important reasons why America and the developing world needs biotech crops," Clause said. "I use less pesticides on my crops and I am getting more food out of my fields. If I had any doubts about the safety of these crops, I wouldn't grow them and I wouldn't let my family work in the fields with them."

In addition, biotech crops enable farmers to plow less, which means less soil erosion and less runoff into rivers and streams. And by improving the productivity on existing farmland, biotech crops help in the preservation of natural wildlife areas.

"I'm excited about the potential benefits biotechnology can bring to citrus and grape farming," said San Diego County farmer Al Stehly. "The grape industry in Anaheim was entirely wiped out by Pierce's disease and San Diego County has been dramatically impacted as well. There is no cure, but biotech researchers have made discoveries that make us optimistic that the rest of California, including Napa Valley, might never experience this devastating disease."

"Foods made from biotechnology crops are safe and every bit as nutritious as conventional and organic foods," said registered dietician Karen Kafer regarding the regulation of biotech foods. "The current system we have, which allows voluntary labeling of products made from biotechnology crops, is working and guarantees consumers safe and nutritious foods."

"The science behind the safety of these crops is sound and irrefutable," said Phillips. "Biotech crops are among the most tested products in the world and have been used in our food products for the last six to seven years and there have been no reported illnesses as a result of eating any of these food products."

Outside, however, and held aloft by several large weather balloons, the banner was flown like a kite by several organizers from Biojustice and the Ruckus Society. "There are thousands of biotech industry representatives coming to town, who are perverting agriculture, science, nature and democracy as we know it. These perversions impact human health and the well-being of all life." said one demonstrator.

The groups claim the biotechnology industry perverts nature: the patenting of genes and life forms has turned nature into a set of commodities to be stolen and manipulated for corporate profits. Biotechnology industry perverts science, they claim. At the policy level, approval data for genetically modified organisms are generated by the companies that stand to gain from positive results. Around the world, an "unholy relationship" between the science regulators, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the biotech industry has led to the stifling and dismissal of critical, or simply cautionary, scientists.

"This message is intended to float above the fog of the biotech PR machine," said Ruckus Society Director John Sellers. "The biotech industry is committing perversions against nature in the name of profit. We cannot allow it to continue."

Biojustice claims to be a coalition "organized to shine the light of public scrutiny on the threats genetic engineering poses to human health, food safety, and the environment." The Ruckus Society "is dedicated to providing campaign support and training to help human rights and environmental organizations achieve their goals."