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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WORLD’S LARGEST PRODUCERS OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PRODUCTS DUMP $150K INTO MEASURE H OPPOSITION COFFERS The world’s largest producers of genetically engineered products dumped $150,000 in just two weeks into the campaign to defeat Mendocino County’s citizen-led effort to be the first county in the nation to ban the growing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The money came in one chunk from the Washington, D.C. based biotech industry group called CropLife America. The $150,000 check from CropLife was donated to the opposition campaign during a two-week period ending Jan. 17, according to financial statements filed this week with the Mendocino County Clerk Marsha Wharff. CropLife’s member companies are responsible for the creation and selling of virtually all genetically engineered crops and seeds in the world including: Monsanto, makers of Roundup, Agent Orange and PCB’s; Syngenta, which tried to patent the rice genome; DuPont and Dow Agrosciences. DuPont and Monsanto are now the two largest seed companies in the world, forcing a growing number of U.S. farmers to purchase expensive new, genetically engineered seed from the biotech companies each season, according to the Soil Association. According to Dr. Peter Rosset, a biotechnology expert at the Center for the Study of the Americas, “CropLife is a virtual Who’s Who of the biotech and agro-chemical industry. They have multi-millions at their fingertips and will stop at nothing to crush the effort in Mendocino County.” The same corporations poured $4.9 million into defeating an Oregon state initiative to label genetically engineered foods in 2002, compared to the $200,000 raised by Oregonians. The big funders in that campaign were Monsanto with $1.48 million, DuPont, Syngenta and Dow Agrosciences, each with contributions of up to $600,000. These are the same companies funding the California Plant Health Association, a Sacramento-based biotech lobbying group whose President and CEO, Steven Beckley, is serving as treasurer of the campaign against Measure H. The opposition failed to receive a single contribution from within Mendocino County – or even from within California. By contrast, more than 300 Mendocino County residents and businesses donated a total of $11, 053 to the campaign for Measure H, according to Measure H campaign treasurer Allen Cooperrider. “We’re getting hundreds of donations from dollars shoved in coffee cans at community benefits to $100 contributions coming from every corner of the county,” Cooperrider said. “We’re not surprised to see the opposition’s big money comes from out-of-state outfits whose bottom line is profit rather than the interests of Mendocino County.” Recent contributions to Measure H have come from The Apple Farm (Philo) McFadden Farms (Potter Valley), Yorkville Cellars (Yorkville), and The Sound Company (Ukiah). Individual contributions have come from Diane and Dr. Robert Shugart (Ukiah); Bob Rodriguez and Lisa Orselli (Ft. Bragg); Sheriff Tony Craver (Ft. Bragg); Dr. Marc Lappe (Gualala); and Susan and Dr. Herschel Gordon. While the Measure H campaign has been spending most of its money at local businesses, the opposition spent nearly a hundred thousand dollars on outside campaign consultants, "push polls," and mailers. The opposition’s only local expenditure was $710, part of campaign coordinator’s Elizabeth Brazil salary for the two-week period ending Jan. 17. One opposition payment of $13,000 went to Woodward & McDowell, a Burlingame public relations firm. The firm had previously been paid $25,000 by the Measure H opposition forces. Woodard & McDowell is best known for its work on behalf of the Tobacco Institute and against California propositions to protect the environment. If approved by voters in the March election, Measure H will prohibit the "propagation, cultivation, raising and growing of genetically modified organisms in Mendocino County." It is not a labeling law. And Measure H does not affect food products found in the aisles of grocery stores or livestock feed. ######## |
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Hotline | Contact Us VOTE YES ON MEASURE H MARCH 2 P.O. Box 1139, Ukiah, CA 95482 Campaign for a GMO Free Mendocino County - #1258121 |
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