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Volume 4 Issue 5

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When a reputable-sounding nonprofit organization released a report attacking the organic food industry in April 2014, the group went to great lengths to tout its independence. The 30-page report by Academics Review, described as "a non-profit led by independent academic experts in agriculture and food sciences," found that consumers were being duped into spending more money for organic food because of deceptive marketing practices by the organic industry. Trade press headlines blared: "Organics exposed!" (Brownfield News) and "Organic Industry Booming by Deceiving Consumers" (Food Safety Tech News), touting the findings by supposedly independent experts. The findings were "endorsed by an international panel of independent agricultural science, food science, economic and legal experts from respected international institutions," according to the group's press release. In case the point about independence wasn't clear, the press release ends on this note: "Academics Review has no conflicts-of-interest associated with this publication, and all associated costs for which were paid for using our general funds without any specific donor' influence or direction." What was not mentioned in the report, the news release or on the website: Executives for Monsanto Co., the world's leading purveyor of agrichemicals and genetically engineered seeds, along with key Monsanto allies, engaged in fund raising for Academics Review, collaborated on strategy and even discussed plans to hide industry funding, according to emails obtained by U.S. Right to Know via state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Monsanto's motives in attacking the organic industry are obvious: Monsanto's seeds and chemicals are banned from use in organic farming, and a large part of Monsanto's messaging is that its products are superior to organics as tools to boost global food production. Academics Carry Monsanto's Message Academics Review was co-founded by "two independent professors ... on opposite ends of the planet," Bruce Chassy, Ph.D., professor emeritus at University of Illinois, and David Tribe, Ph.D., senior lecturer at University of Melbourne. They claim the group "only accepts unrestricted donations from non-corporate sources." Yet two email exchanges in 2010 reveal plans to find corporate funding for Academics Review while keeping corporate fingerprints hidden. In a March 11, 2010 email exchange with Chassy, Jay Byrne, former head of communications at Monsanto who now runs a PR and market research firm, offered to act as a "commercial vehicle" to help find corporate funding for Academics Review. Monsanto Fingerprints Found All Over A ack On Organic Food Page 18 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysHealthAndNutrition.com

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