One Californian commentator recently said of the pro-GM ravings of Harry Cline of Westen Farm Press:

'Harry Cline, an ag. columnist whose brain exploded when confronted with the idea that biotech wasn't necessarily the best thing ever, gets excited -- six-pack of Viagra excited -- when the OCA calls him a "biotech bully." His only response is to call them socialists. And "out-of-staters." Agribusiness: it's the new red-baiting!'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4311

Item 2 is Harry's latest polemic. This time he doesn't think critics of GM should even be allowed to meet!

'I wonder if the American Legion members looked into the agenda of the group renting its hall. As for the use of public buildings, opening up to this group for this media circus is tantamount to renting the city council chamber or supervisor offices to the Ku Klux Klan or the neo-Nazi party for a rally.'

1.Bio-food opponent stumps for his cause during Northern California tour
2.Anti-GE crowd spews distortions, lies at city hall, Farm Bureau
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1.Bio-food opponent stumps for his cause during Northern California tour
By ROSY WEISER
Sentinel correspondent
Santa Cruz Sentinel, September 28, 2004
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/September/28/local/stories/08local.htm

Read Jeffrey Smith’s book "Seeds of Deception," and you might never again look at a box of crackers or a bag of potato chips the same way.

Food choices might have less to do with flavor, cost and brand name, and hinge instead on a careful scouring of labels in search of ingredients to avoid, such as corn and soy-based derivatives, for fear they might be genetically modified.

It’s been a little more than a year since this investigative expose of the biotechnology food industry hit the shelves, and Smith is still being thanked by people for alerting them to genetically engineered foods.

"The feedback I’m getting is quite wonderful," Smith said in a recent phone interview. "It’s been exciting to see that by inserting new information into the debate, it’s making a difference in public perception as well as public policy."

Traveling virtually nonstop since he published the book, Smith’s latest California tour is in support of the four counties ”” Marin, San Luis Obispo, Butte and Humboldt ”” that have adopted November ballot initiatives banning genetically modified crops. (Plans for Smith to host a benefit dinner in Watsonville for California Certified Organic Farmers on Monday were canceled).

Fans credit Smith with shoring up the health argument against genetically modified foods in a carefully researched treatise that’s both accessible and gripping, successfully combining scientific information with intrigue and adventure.

Smith’s premise, based on almost a decade studying the issue, is that genetically altering the inherent makeup of organisms, such as plants and animals, is an unpredictable global experiment, using largely untested scientific processes that could end in dire, unintended and irreversible consequences.

Genetic modification of foods involves combining genes from different organisms to create plants that are resistant to disease, pests and herbicides, enhance yields, taste and quality, and boost nutritional values.

"I’m not against biotechnology. I’m against feeding the products of an infant science to millions of people," Smith said.

Long considered an expert on the topic, Smith has worked at a laboratory that detects genetically modified organisms, founded the Institute for Responsible Technology and ran for Congress in 1998.

His long list of "what could go wrong" with genetically modifying what we eat includes accidentally creating new viruses, unleashing new diseases resistant to antibiotics, a spike in food allergies and a potential decrease in the nutritional content of foods.

"These are living, self-replicating, unpredictable systems that we’re eating," he said, emphasizing that the long-term effects of such consumption are unknown.

In the United States, there are currently no labeling requirements for genetically modified food; the Food and Drug Administration’s official position is that the foods are as safe as natural foods and are thereby precluded from special labeling regulations or additional safety tests.

The four crops with the largest percentage of genetically modified acreage in this country are, in descending order, soy, cotton, canola and corn. Other sources include dairy products from cows injected with synthetic growth hormones, food additives and honey from bees whose feeding source was an engineered crop.

For more information go to seedsofdeception.com.

Contact Rosy Weiser at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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2.Anti-GE crowd spews distortions, lies at city hall, Farm Bureau
Western Farm Press, Sep 28, 2004
By Harry Cline

The lies and distortion continue from the anti-biotech crowd traipsing through California hiding behind their anti-corporate, socialist, anti-human agenda in opposing agriculture biotechnology.

A news release from "Californians for GE-Free Agriculture" went out to the media promoting a series of seminars where "Midwestern Farmers Share Their Stories throughout California" about the horrors biotechnology.

The program lists as speakers three supposedly Midwest farmers and a California rice grower, Ron Lee, who produces conventional and organic rice.

Where is the California grower who produces biotech corn or cotton? There are more than 600,000 acres of biotech crops growing in California and this group could not find one producer willing to debate the issue? Where are the University of California scientists who have researched and evaluated this technology?

According to the news release, "This panel provides a rare opportunity to hear first-hand from farmers and farmer advocates who have been grappling with the impacts of this as yet unproven technology" read the news release.

Unproven! That is garbage.

Who are these Midwest Farmers?

Bill Wenzel was one of the speakers. He is executive director of Wisconsin Rural Development Center (WRDC) in Mt. Horeb, Wis. WRDC is a "nonprofit organization comprised of family farmers, environmentalists, church leaders, consumers, and rural activists. It promotes social and economic justice in rural Wisconsin; to protect rural natural resources; and to activate an effective voice for rural citizens." according to its Web site.

Sure sounds like a farmer who has something to lend to the biotechnology debate in California.

George Naylor of Churdan, Iowa was another speaker. He is a small farmer and a member of the National Family Farm Coalition. He does not like Freedom to Farm. He opposes "factory farms." He wants to go back to the days of high loan rates; non-recourse government loans and government storage of surplus commodities. He basically wants the government to support him, yet claims the government is inept at evaluating and regulating biotech crops.

Naylor sued Monsanto for anti-trust and lost. He basically wants to grow propriety planting seed and sell it to anyone he wants. He was one of four plaintiffs in an unsuccessful lawsuit against Monsanto. One of his co-plaintiffs was a GMO grower.

Another speaker listed was Dan McGuire, an absentee owner of a 320-acre farm in central Nebraska. He share crops it with another farmer. He basically works for the American Corn Growers Association, a groups that claims 14,000 members in 36 states. It was formed in 1987 because a minority of corn growers did not like the way the government farm program was evolving.

The American Corn Growers Association is not to be confused with the National Corn Growers Association founded in 1957 that represents 32,000 dues-paying corn growers from 48 states and the interests of more than 300,000 farmers who contribute to the corn check-off programs in 20 states.

Who is Californians for GE-Free Agriculture? They call themselves "a unique coalition of sustainable farming, environmental, and consumer organizations united top prevent genetically engineered (GE) agriculture in California. Members include: California Certified Organic Farmers, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Food Safety, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Ecological Farming Association, Four Elements Farm, Genetic Engineering Action Network, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, and Organic Consumers Association."

The so-called information meetings about genetically engineered crops were charades of misinformation and distortions. They were not valid debates about biotechnology.

What is even more galling about these so called information meetings was that two were held in public buildings, the Chico City Council chambers and the Marin County Board of Supervisors offices and one was at an American Legion Hall in Arroyo Grande, Calif.

A third was held in the Sonoma County Farm Bureau building in Santa Rosa. This is ludicrous. We have been told that the California Farm Bureau Federation is spearheading the grassroots effort to turn back this anti-GMO effort in California and a Farm Bureau chapter opens its facilities to a farce like this anti-GE rally? If Farm Bureau is leading this effort, God help California agriculture.

It is one thing to host a legitimate debate on genetically modified crops. It is entirely something different to allow a group whose avowed goal is to wipe out production agriculture in California to use a Farm Bureau facility for propaganda purposes.

I wonder if the American Legion members looked into the agenda of the group renting its hall.

As for the use of public buildings, opening up to this group for this media circus is tantamount to renting the city council chamber or supervisor offices to the Ku Klux Klan or the neo-Nazi party for a rally. Again, using public facilities for a legitimate debate is worthy. Opening it for people to spew half truths and lies about California agriculture is wrong. A lot of farmers live in Chico and the city council can expect to hear about this misuse of public facilities.

Harsh words? You bet. This anti-biotechnology travesty being palmed off on California is a very serious threat to not only California growers and ranchers, but to a major source of food and fiber for California and the world.

Should the issue of biotechnology be debated? Absolutely. There are serious issues with this technology. Is it unsafe? No? Millions of dollars in research have proven that. Are there ethical, moral and economic issues with the technology? Certainly.

Californians have the right to all the facts - not just the junk tossed out by Californians for GE-Free Agriculture and the likes. There are hundreds of legitimate scientists and farmers who are capable of presenting a balanced picture of the issue. Shams like gatherings sponsored by these radical, anti-government groups are not where the facts will be presented.