If you go to the Consumer Alert homepage at consumeralert.org you'll read
right at the top (count the red flags as you read):
THE FREE-MARKET CONSUMER GROUP
"Consumer Alert is everything that most other self-styled
consumerist organizations are not: scholarly, scientific, honest, and
motivated not by self-interest, but by the public interest."
--Dr. Henry Miller: Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford
University.
They say they have members in all 50 states. But I'd like to know more
about their constituency.
The who we are page tells you that they are a Washington, D.C. based
nonprofit with the goal of:
Consumer Alert's mission is to enhance understanding and appreciation of the
consumer benefits of a market economy so
that individuals and policymakers rely more on private rather than
government approaches to consumer concerns.
So in other words, they want the folks who sell us stuff to police
themselves. I am reminded of the astronaut who said that at lift off the
only thing he could think of is that he was sitting on top of thousands of
parts all built by the lowest bidder. Thankfully, their were some
government imposed minimum standards in the specifications.
The what we do page gives the usual list of educational activities like
newsletters, &etc. They also have a consumer coalition group on global
warming with the cute name "Cooler Heads Coalition." I'll bet they use
loaded words like hysteria a lot in their news releases, too.
I didn't go very deep into their site. But I wanted to find out who is
behind this group. I didn't get any answers in my limited surfing. When I
clicked on the link to their staff and advisors I got a 404 (file not found)
error. Very interesting.
Lester
>Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 10:55:28 -0400 (EDT)
>From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <london@metalab.unc.edu>
>Subject: ADM -- SPECIALTY MARKET TO THE RICH
>
>PRN CONSUMER ALERT:
>Sep8 1999 5:21
>
>WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The following op-ed piece is by Frances
>B. Smith, Executive Director of Consumer Alert:
>Archer Daniels Midland Co. -- fond of touting itself as "Supermarket to the
>World" -- should change its slogan to "Specialty Market to the Rich of the
>World." ADM recently warned its grain suppliers they would have to
>segregate crops produced from biotechnology from those produced
>conventionally. Not only would this redundancy cause prices to rise
>significantly for consumers on a whole range of food products, but
>reactions like ADM's could spread and grind to a halt the potential
>benefits that biotechnology could bring to millions of starving and
>malnourished people in developing countries. ADM's action came in the wake
>of hysteria in Europe fueled by anti-biotechnology activists and fanned by
>tabloid-type media coverage. The anti- biotech campaigns have moved quickly
>to the U.S. and Canada. Leading the charge was Greenpeace, whose first
>targets were baby food producers -- Gerber, for one -- whom they scared
>into promising "never ever to do it again, mommy," that is, to use food
>produced through biotechnology in its baby foods. Gerber is going to use
>"organic" food instead, even though there is no scientific evidence that
>organically grown food is safer, purer, or more healthful than
>conventionally grown or bio-engineered food. Indeed, agronomists point to
>Centers for Disease Control data showing fresh, unprocessed organic
>foodstuffs may have a higher incidence of food-borne pathogens. Some large
>companies before Gerber had already caved in to the fear-mongering
>campaigns against foods produced through biotechnology, even though they
>know and have stated publicly that there is no scientific justification for
>their actions.As ADM said in its statement, the company "remains supportive
>of the science and safety" of bioengineered crops, but it was worried about
>customers abroad who are concerned about gene-altered crops. ADM's
>buckling under, however, speaks more loudly than its "supportive" words to
>customers and consumers and is likely to provide fertile ground for
>activists to make further inroads.Indeed, Reuters quotes European activists
>as declaring "victory" in response to ADM's cave-in. Critical public health
>benefits that biotechnology can offer could be set back through companies'
>playing into the hands of Greenpeace, et al.If biotechnology research
>proceeds at its current pace, the human and environmental benefits of
>agricultural biotechnology could be dramatic and widespread in the near
>future. That would mean higher crop yields and a likely reduction in
>pesticide usage. Biotechnology is the best hope we have of meeting the
>growing food demands of a world population that will increase by at least
>50 percent in the next several years.If we don't increase yields on the
>land already being farmed, the alternative is to put more land into
>production -- lands that now represent forests and wildlife areas. Among
>the possibilities of biotechnology are drought resistant crops and plants
>resistant to aluminum toxicity, which cuts crop yields in vast regions of
>the world, primarily in developing countries. Enhanced nutritional levels
>of staple crops can prevent diseases that are life-threatening or
>debilitating. In just one example, gene-altered rice has been enhanced with
>Vitamin A and could help eradicate blindness, caused by a deficiency of
>that vitamin, in millions of children. Currently, consumers know little
>about those benefits. Activist groups that are campaigning against this new
>technology in countries across the world ignore the positive and instead
>promote images of fear and dread to depict the products of biotechnology.
>It is not a food safety issue, however. It is an issue of a new technology
>that rubs against the values and tastes of some, who, in satisfying their
>own preferences, would deny biotechnology's benefits to the world.
>
>SOURCEConsumer Alert
>- -0- 09/07/1999
>/CONTACT:Fran Smith of Consumer Alert, 202-467-5809, or e-mail,
>Info@consumeralert.org/
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