Monsanto-Funded Front Group Fights Milk Labeling [1]
Submitted by Anne Landman [2] on
A new "grassroots [3]" farmers' group with close ties to Monsanto [4] has been formed to outlaw labels that would notify consumers they are buying milk from cows not treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH [5]). Monsanto genetically engineers rBGH, called Posilac, which is injected into cows, forcing them to produce more milk. The front group [6] American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology [7] (AFACT), which receives funding from Monsanto, was organized by Osborne & Barr [8], an agri-marketing firm started by two former Monsanto employees in 1988. The founding client of Osborne & Barr was Monsanto. Consultant Monty G. Miller [9] of Estes Park, Colorado, also helped organize AFACT, which was formally launched in California in February 2008. The only contact information AFACT lists on its website [10] is a fax number listed as belonging to "Outer Office." Outer Office provides secretarial and operational support (such as scheduling, newsletters and message-taking) to small consulting businesses. A call to Outer Office seeking the address and telephone contact information for AFACT was not returned.