March 30, 2000 / The Toronto Star / Stuart Laidlaw
WASHINGTON -- Gene Grabowski, vice-president of communications for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, which represents the top packaged food companies in the world, sees the fight over genetically modified foods as, according to this story, nothing less than a battle against the American way of life.
The man who speaks for much of the world food industry was cited as saying that environmentalists fighting genetic modification are less interested in what's on grocery shelves than they are in bringing down big American corporations and free enterprise, adding, "It's a global struggle and it puts companies at risk."
The story says that in an hour and a half discussion, the 46-year-old former reporter returns several times to this theme, speaking with disdain about environmentalists one moment and boasting about America's aggressive pursuit of profit the next.
Grabowski was quoted as saying, "America is about progress. Progress and profit. It may sound jingoistic, but I love America."
Although Americans are becoming more aware of the issue, it has not yet prompted the concern it has in Europe, where companies are refusing to sell genetically modified food.
David Senter, director of the American Corn Growers Association, was cited as saying the association has cautioned members about growing genetically modified, or GM, crops for fear they won't be able to sell them adding, "Americans have a long way to go. It's probably a good technology, but I'm not sure. We need to do more testing."
Grabowski was further cited as saying no food has been tested as much as GM food. It is the result of years of hard work and research by companies dedicated to making a profit by developing better products, he says.
He is proud of what American companies have been able to achieve in biotechnology, and how their aggressive pursuit of innovation and profit has made them into some of the largest companies in the world.
It's the kind of determination he says makes America great.
He then draws a quick link from corporate aggression to the country's past successes on the battlefield.
Grabowski was quoted as saying, "We would be goose stepping in this country, and in Canada, if it weren't for the U.S.," he says, referring to America's involvement toward the end of the Second World War. We'd all be "speaking German," he added later.
A true believer in genetic modification and the companies behind it, Grabowski has become the industry's front man on the issue. The companies he represents - including Kellogg's, Kraft and Heinz - refer media inquiries to his organization, which refers them to him. It's a role he admits has at times made him seem the villain in the media.
Grabowski was cited as accusing environmentalists of using consumers' fears about genetic modification to raise donations. Confident his side will win, he expects the activists to move on to something else once the issue blows over.
Their ultimate goal, he says, is to bring down Corporate America.
"It's an anti-progress agenda," he warns, and the entire free enterprise system is at stake if progress is slowed.
"Other forces are going to take over," he says, "evil forces."
He expresses his greatest frustration over the Europeans and their refusal to buy genetically modified food from American companies.
"Europe should be down on its knees to the U.S. thanking God we were there for them," he says, referring again to the Second World War.
Senter of the corn growers association doesn't see things that way.
His members grow the crops Grabowski is so passionate about. Until recently the farmers were equally passionate about GM foods, but their enthusiasm has begun to wane.
The association has cautioned its members to be wary of planting GM crops because their markets may be in jeopardy. But it has not actually advised them against growing such food. "All we wanted to do was make sure our members had all the information they needed to make their own decision," Senter says.
The message is getting through. Plantings are, the story says, expected to be down by about 15 per cent this year, a big reversal for a crop that claimed 60 per cent of the market just five years after its introduction.
Brian Halweil, a researcher at the WorldWatch Institute, a Washington environmental group, was cited as saying consumers familiar with the issue are already scared enough to reject GM foods and that the key is to get more people informed, adding, "They haven't heard about it enough. They need to hear about it over and over. For most people, it's not even on their radar screens."
That will change, he predicts, once the next big food scare hits the United States, such as the massive hamburger recall in 1993, when four children died after eating at a fast food chain.
Like the mad cow disease scare in Britain - which saw two million cattle killed after it was shown the disease could be passed to humans - a big food scare in the United States would make consumers think about where their food comes from, he says.
"It could really fuel the fire."
As they did in Britain, activists would use media coverage of the food scare, whatever it turns out to be, to get out their message on GM foods, taking the issue further into the mainstream and on to the national agenda, he says.
Grabowski doubts a food scare will change people's attitudes because Americans tend to regard events like the hamburger recall as isolated incidents.
Besides, he says, mad cow disease and the bad hamburger killed people.
So far, there's no evidence GM foods kill.
(posted without permission)
