Fighting on a Battlefield the Size of a Milk Label

News Type: Opinion — Seeded on Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:00 PM EDT

Article Source: The New York Times

health, monsanto, corporate-government, rbgh, front-groups, avery, posilac, rbst, hormone-dairy, wolff, terry-etherton

It may be the last stand of Posilac. A new advocacy group closely tied to Monsanto has started a counteroffensive to stop the proliferation of milk that comes from cows that aren't treated with synthetic bovine growth hormone.

The group, called American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology, or Afact, says it is a grass-roots organization that came together to defend members' right to use recombinant bovine somatotropin, also known as rBST or rBGH, an artificial hormone that stimulates milk production. It is sold by Monsanto under the brand name Posilac.

Dairy farmers are indeed part of the organization. But Afact was organized in part by Monsanto and a Colorado consultant who lists Monsanto as a client.

Afact has also received help from Osborn & Barr, a marketing firm whose founders include a former Monsanto executive. The firm received a contract in 2006 to help with the Posilac campaign.

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Pamela Drew's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Foodies!, GMO Vine, Media Watch, Nutrition, Organic Life, Parents and Parenting, RightsVine
Regions: New York

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9.9

{"commentId":1561288,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

What the Times missed were the dozens of other connections between Monsanto and their "farmers" championing choice. Take co-founder of AFACT, Carroll Campbell, a gentleman farmer with 150 dairy cows and seats on he Boards of Directors for the banks and insurance companies making a nice living on farm loans and payment processing and other policy that has little to do with milk.

Then we can go to the noted controversy in Pennsylvania where Dennis Wolff, the Secretary of Agriculture is a former Monsanto dairy farmer making his money selling seed policy on the Board of Agway and cashing in on other bank and insurance seats like all the moneyed agri-elite claiming rights for farmers, pshaw!

Rebbecca Yarowski wrote a fantastic investigative piece on the Pennsylvania scam back in Novemeberish and I've been searching like the Dickens and it's not coming up to link. If someone else finds it sooner than me it would be great to add it. My normally terrible skills are further challenged transitioning to a Mac. Thanks to Ryan I've got the apple key right click issue almost learned but that's all, uggh I'm the slowest!

{"commentId":1561288,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

3 votes

#1 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:30 PM EDT

{"commentId":1561333,"authorDomain":"dungbeetlemania"}

dungbeetlemania

If consumers want labels then that's the market working. If AFACT want to stop the free market from working, then they should say so...

{"commentId":1561333,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"dungbeetlemania"}

3 votes

#2 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:43 PM EDT

{"commentId":1561754,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

They should say so, but American policy is to pretend nothing Monsanto touches is identified as their creation, except for revenue purposes then it's perfectly fine to attach identification, down to the DNA.

{"commentId":1561754,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

4 votes

#2.1 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:30 PM EDT

{"commentId":1564295,"authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}

lauhal

If companies really believe their products to be safe, then they should be proud to label their products truthfully. When companies start looking for an end-around, that's all the proof I need to know that they do not believe in their own products.

{"commentId":1564295,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}

3 votes

#2.2 - Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:58 AM EDT

{"commentId":1564709,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

Bullseye lauhal, sing the product praises from the rooftops, get into those pockets and pay for ads, earn market share like every other product or go the way of 8 track tapes and Beta Max, voted out.

{"commentId":1564709,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

3 votes

#2.3 - Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:19 AM EDT

{"commentId":1561914,"authorDomain":"evilgenius"}

evilgenius

Thanks again Pamela for seeding this article. It is going to come down to consumers actually demanding we get food free of this meddling. As for the FDA they are worse than useless; they are dangerous.

{"commentId":1561914,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"evilgenius"}

2 votes

#3 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:08 PM EDT

{"commentId":1562064,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

You're right, we need consumer action and voices raised. The Pennsylvania primary may be just the place too. It fills me with inspiration, from the tea party to the Bt party, refusing taxation without representation, again!! Gee wiz, we were supposed to have the basics of free people down pat!

{"commentId":1562064,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

2 votes

#3.1 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:43 PM EDT

{"commentId":1562626,"authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

MinnieApolis

You gotta admit, Pamela, it was rather refreshing for a place as prominent as the NYT to be upfront in an article on a so-called grass roots group to tell us who is behind it.
It saved us the trouble of having to dig it out weeks later and try to undo the damage the group has done.
Maybe you don't know I am from America's Dairyland (Wisconsin) myself, cheesehead country, and in fact a step grandfather had a small dairy farm of his own. But he concentrated on quality not quantity, when it came to his cows' production. That is a standard that has been left behind by many farmers -- altho it must be mentioned that dairy farming less resembles farming nowadays than factory production. California ~~farms~~ dairying operations typically have hundreds of cows, and milking resembles an assembly line.
Maybe if more people in rural/exurbs took to raising mini goats for their milk? It is a different taste, I know, but it does make a great cheese.

{"commentId":1562626,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

3 votes

#4 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:06 PM EDT

{"commentId":1562919,"authorDomain":"cobbs"}

steveoutdoorrec

I once told a friend that his goat's milk probably didn't taste as good as the cows milk I could buy. So we did a blind taste test and I couldn't tell the diffrence. It really comes down to what the animal eats is passed on to the milk. His goats ate the best feed and he kept them away from pungent weeds.

{"commentId":1562919,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"cobbs"}

2 votes

#4.1 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:42 PM EDT

{"commentId":1563105,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

I think consumers and small farmers both want to go back to supporting family and farm friendly practices. We just need the government to stop messing with the consumer information to help Monsanto and the market will settle it for us. As for the Times story, Andrew Martin has been doing a very decent job with the Monsanto stories, especially considering they all fall in the business section.

{"commentId":1563105,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

2 votes

#4.2 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:42 PM EDT

{"commentId":1562756,"authorDomain":"inghar2004"}

gladbutterfly

Maybe if more people in rural/exurbs took to raising mini goats for their milk?

This has got to happen. Right now, I buy goat and sheep cheese at a local, family-run cheese shop that imports it from such farmers as a group of monks in Quebec who raise their own livestock and make the cheese on site. It is great cheese too.

{"commentId":1562756,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"inghar2004"}

1 vote

#5 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:46 PM EDT

{"commentId":1563320,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

We could have the rave be the cheesy babes homesteading with goats. It makes economic sense but I doubt they qualify as small pets in the big apple. I'd love to give it a whirl though, my pet goat, haha!

{"commentId":1563320,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

1 vote

#5.1 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:57 PM EDT

{"commentId":1570887,"authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

MinnieApolis

Don't know if you missed it, Pamela, as there was a story seeded on Newsvine a couple months ago about OK-ing pygmy goats for home pets -- I think it was in the San Fran area.
Maybe Long Island might tolerate goats. They seem to like to think they are more rural, more laid-back.

{"commentId":1570887,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

1 vote

#5.2 - Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:03 PM EDT

{"commentId":1571618,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

Who knows, I try not to guess what folks might do or think, too easy to be wrong. :~)

{"commentId":1571618,"threadId":"232416","contentId":"1356281","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

1 vote

#5.3 - Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:06 PM EDT

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"232416","isPrivate":false}

PAMELA DREW

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Fighting on a Battlefield the Size of a Milk Label

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