NOTE: Cooking the Books: A Methodological Critique of PG Economics's 2011 Global Report on GM Crops, January 2012. Available at http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/FWW_CookingTheBooks_WEB.pdf
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GM Industry Backers Cook the Books Again ISAAA Figures on GM Can't Be Trusted
Food & Water Europe, 7 February 2012

Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Europe

Brussels "The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications has done it again. Their annual 'state of play' report on GM in agriculture, paid for by a host of vested interests including Monsanto, Bayer CropScience and CropLife International, uses inflated claims and sleight of hand to 'demonstrate' the alleged popularity of GM crops. For example, having invented the concept of 'trait hectares' to calculate the global uptake of GM that even a child could see this doesn't add up (ie, if one acre of crop has six stacked GM traits in it, the ISAAA counts it as 6 hectares of GM), this year the report takes the bold step of relying on as yet unpublished material from the controversial Brookes and Barfoot team (the citation "Brookes and Barfoot, 2012, Forthcoming" appears no fewer than nine times in the Executive Summary alone).

"One of the ISAAA's key sources over the years, PG Economics, which is run by Brookes and Barfoot, has time and time again been challenged on their manipulation of data, even though the illegitimacy of their approach was exposed as long ago as 2009 by agronomist Charles Benbrook, whose many roles include Executive Director of the Board on Agriculture at the National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences. Our own analysis of PG Economics reveals they derive their figures from reliance on biased data sources, overstating the benefits of GM for farmers and ignoring figures that don't support their preconceived pro-GM position. [1] They have a vested interest in the success of GM technology, and their figures simply can't be trusted. 

"We know GM's future is looking bleak. Rampant weed resistance and growing insect resistance in the U.S. and elsewhere are exposing the serious flaws in the GM experiment. In the past few weeks alone Monsanto has pulled its GM maize out of France and BASF has moved out of Europe altogether, with a member of their Board saying 'it does not make business sense' to continue trying to operate in a market that doesn't want what they have to sell. 

"The only way the GM industry and their supporters can make GM look good is if they cook the books. The only way they can sell their product is in unlabeled packages so consumers don't now where it is. This smacks of desperation, not success."

[1]  Cooking the Books: A Methodological Critique of PG Economics's 2011 Global Report on GM Crops, January 2012. Available at http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/FWW_CookingTheBooks_WEB.pdf

Food & Water Europe is a program of Food & Water Watch, Inc., a non-profit consumer NGO based in Washington, D.C., working to ensure clean water and safe food in Europe and around the world. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

Contact:

Eve Mitchell emitchell(at)fweurope.org, tel + 44 (0)1381 610 740)