| Turns out Monsanto HAS been lobbying for "the REAL Monsanto bill." Hmm.
Back in April, I posted a diary called The Bad Guys' Plan to Feed the Hungry in which I referred to S.384, the Global Food Security Act, as "the REAL Monsanto bill." It was a reference to a nickname given to the bill by the Organic Consumers Association.
To my great surprise, Monsanto dropped by this blog to let me know that they had nothing to do with the bill. Nothing at all! JohnatMonsanto said:
The Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act does not direct funding to Monsanto and we have made no request for it to do so.
Brad from Monsanto said:
Further, Monsanto was not involved in the drafting of this bill, and while Monsanto shares the belief with the bill's authors that technology can help lift people from poverty, we would not benefit directly from the passage of this bill.
Given the recent fiasco with failed attempts to portray HR 875 as a Monsanto-sponsored bill I'm surprised at your involvement in the attempt to mis-portray S 384 as a Monsanto bill as well.
Well, a quick look at Monsanto's first quarter 2009 lobbying report gives us the truth. They spent $2,094,000 on lobbying. Among their issues were:
General Issue area code: AGR AGRICULTURE
Specific lobbying issues:
Biotech acceptance
Crop insurance/Biotech yield endorsement
USDA Rulemaking - 7CFR Part 340
House(s) of Congress and Federal Agencies:
U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, White House Office, State - Dept of (DOS), Agriculture - Dept of (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
General Issue area code: FOO Food industry (Safety, Labeling, etc)
Specific lobbying issues:
Biotechnology acceptance
S. 384- Global Food Security Act of 2009
Sustainable Yield Initiative
House(s) of Congress and Federal Agencies
U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Agriculture - Dept of (USDA)
There goes that claim that Monsanto has nothing to do with S.384. However, it does prove (as I've been saying all along) that Monsanto had nothing to do with H.R.875. |
