St. Louis Post-Dispatch | February 21, 2000 | Bill Lambrecht
WASHINGTON -- When Frito-Lay swore off genetically modified corn in its chips last month, the company didn't realize, according to this story, that it would have to answer to Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond.
And when Sen. Barbara Boxer laid plans to introduce the Senate's first bill for mandatory labeling of gene-altered foods, she didn't imagine that Bond would send out daily letters to senators denouncing her legislation.
But that's what Bond intends to do when Boxer files her labeling legislation this week, on the heels of his two strongly worded "Dear Colleague" messages about biotechnology last week.
The Missouri Republican was quoted as writing last week that, "While hysteria, intimidation, opportunism, misinformation and short-sightedness have met some tactical success in Europe, it would be a gross irresponsibility to allow that to happen here."
In another letter, set to go out Tuesday, Bond, according to this story, tells his Senate colleagues, "The real risk is that without scientific basis, the naysayers may succeed in their goal to subvert biotechnology and condemn the world's most unfortunate to unnecessary malnutrition, blindness, sickness and environmental degradation."
"Dear Colleague" letters are a staple of Senate politicking, but rarely do they pour out of one senator's office with the frequency of Bond's starchy missives on biotech.
The story says that the letters are one component of Bond's recent pro-biotech whirlwind that has taken on the air of a crusade. In the new issue of Science Magazine, he takes to task the "vocal, aggressive and, in some cases, lawless group of advocacy organizations (that) seeks to discredit and eliminate biotechnology."
Bond also is making speeches on the issue, as he did Sunday in Washington to a gathering of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Bond was introduced as "a very important person for plant biologists" recognition, in part, of Bond's sponsorship of the $150 million Plant Genome Initiative to study the genomes of economically significant plants. Bond replied that he has "no scientific credentials ... but I know something about public opinion and the political response to it."
Bond warned the audience of more than 100 scientists and science journalists that "unless we take action, (biotechnology's potential to solve hunger and environmental problems) is on the verge of getting a swift kick in the 'genes.'"
Responding to Bond was Donald Duvicik, an affiliate professor at Iowa State University in Des Moines and retired director of research for giant seed company, Pioneer Hi-bred. Duvicik said he was encouraged by Bond's assertion that congressional support for biotechnology is bi-partisan and geographically diverse.
Bond challenged the scientists to "step out of your labs" and speak publicly, adding, "Your classroom is your community, your nation, your world." And he urged them to put pressure on their elected officials in the same way that representatives of the American Soy Bean Association and American Corn Growers Association first asked him to support plant bio-engineering. From that meeting in 1994, Bond said, grew his passion for biotechnology's potential.
That passion has surfaced in Bond's willingness to publicly dress down companies that abandon food biotechnology out of worry about consumer fears.
In December, at the World Trade Organization's protest-filled gathering in Seattle, Bond accused Illinois-based agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. of "taking a dive" by offering farmers a premium to grow nongene-altered grain.
Now Bond speaks scornfully of Frito-Lay's order to its farmers last month to avoid genetically engineered seed at planting time. Frito-Lay, a division of Pepsico, sells Doritos, Tostitos and other snacks derived from corn.
In a recent speech, Bond wondered why a company like Frito-Lay, whose snack packaging discloses sodium and other ingredients not associated with healthful living, would spurn genetic engineering, adding, "If they want to label something GM-free (genetically modified-free) and can do so truthfully, they have the right to do it. But I disagree with their policy of bowing to the European protectionists and trying to affect the markets for corn and other products."
The story says that Bond is waging his new offensive at a time when the marriage of farming and genetic engineering has hit shaky ground. The unflagging opposition in the 15-country European Union, the world's biggest economy, has jarred confidence in a technology that once was regarded as the future for global food production.
