The CBC recently brought forth allegations that Professor Peter Phillips of the University of Saskatchewan was Monsanto’s sock puppet. How do they know? Because of emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Jonathan investigates.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this is Jonathan from The Body of Evidence.
Today, I want to talk about some fairly serious allegations made against a scientist by the CBC. The scientist in question is Peter Phillips, Ph.D., of the University of Saskatchewan, here in Canada. He directs the Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation Policy and he is a distinguished professor at the university’s graduate school of public policy. And he knows a thing or two about GMOs.
In an article posted by CBC News on May 7, reporter Jason Warick quotes an American researcher who brings proof that Peter Phillips is “a sock puppet for agri-business giant Monsanto”. The CBC article goes on to make 4 allegations which look pretty damning:
1. Monsanto lobbied for Phillips to testify in front of the National Academy of Sciences on the topic of GMOs and even offered to review his slides before he did.
2. A research symposium at U of S for which Phillips served as point person had a guest list overseen by Monsanto.
3. Phillips gave advice to Monsanto on how to deal with the Environmental Protection Agency.
And finally, and most incriminating of all, Monsanto had commissioned academics from many universities, including Phillips himself, to pen articles in line with the corporation’s views. Phillips’ article was edited by Monsanto, but the published article made no mention of Monsanto’s involvement.
Now, my question to you is, how do you feel about a powerful, well-funded interest group interfering in academia and manipulating the public’s opinion on something as important as the food that we eat, all the while ignoring what the science actually tells us?
That’s pretty disgusting, isn’t it?
You probably think this sort of behind-the-scenes manipulation is reprehensible.
I agree.
Which is why we need to talk about the organization behind this piece: US Right To Know.
You see, the “American researcher” who called Phillips a sock puppet for Monsanto, his name is Gary Ruskin. He is the co-founder and co-director of US Right to Know which, according to its website, is “a nonprofit organization working for transparency and accountability in our nation’s food system. We strive to illuminate issues important to consumers. We stand up for the right to know what is in our food, and how it affects our health.”
Gary Ruskin is being portrayed by the CBC as an “American researcher”. You may be forgiven for thinking he does agriculture research, or molecular biology research, or any kind of scientific research. Yet, when we take a look at his CV on LinkedIn, we see “director”, “campaign manager”, “co-founder”, “executive director”, “director”, “campaign manager”, “project coordinator”, “adjunct lecturer in the urban studies department”, and “canvass director”. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Religion and a Master’s in public policy. To call him a researcher is at best a stretch and most likely dishonest.
His organization, US Right to Know, is not some sort of innocent crusading body fighting to protect the public from evil corporations. According to its website, it receives the following donations, includingÂ
over 400 000 American dollars from the Organic Consumers Association, a trade group that pushes an agenda-that people should eat organic food-while being anti-GMO, anti-pesticides, anti-chemicals and anti-vaccines. US Right to Know, with funding from this anti-GMO trade group, is known for adopting the following strategy:
They find an academic researcher who publicly says that genetically engineered food should be part of the solution when it comes to feeding every mouth on Earth.
They file a FOIA request, or Freedom of Information Act request, since “any person has the right to request access to federal agency records…
