Support Tillamook in their fight against Monsanto - an rBGH primer

As of April 1, 2005, all dairies supplying milk to Tillamook, which is a co-op of dairy farmers, were to certify that their milk was rBGH-free. When word leaked to Monsanto, however, they stepped in to try to stop the change. According to Cheese Market News, Monsanto representatives met with Tillamook executives to ask them to reconsider, and in November, sent a letter directly to Tillamook co-op members questioning the policy. The Monsanto letter said, in part, "Monsanto will work to ensure that you have a choice about how to run your dairy." Tillamook is not happy with Monsanto, and said in a statement that the letter's "intrusion into the co-op's internal affairs pales in comparison to Monsanto's unprecedented effort in the past two weeks to divide Tillamook's dairy farmers over the issue." Washington D.C. attorney James Dabney (from the pro-Monsanto lawfirm King & Spaulding) recently flew to Oregon to meet with more than a dozen Tillamook co-op members, who then prepared an amendment to Tillamook's bylaws stating that, "The board shall not in any way restrict the right of any member to use any pharmaceutical product approved by the U.S. FDA for use in dairy cattle." (Monsanto's Director of Public Affairs Jennifer Garrett denies Monsanto had a hand in the petition, but dairy farmers say otherwise.) The petition notes that the signed members won't necessarily vote in favor of the amendment, but believe it should be brought before the membership for a vote. THIS VOTE WILL BE HAPPENING THIS MONDAY, FEB. 28, and Tillamook needs your calls and emails letting them know how important it is to stay rBGH-free. Be respectful and talk straight from the heart. You can contact them at:

E-mail: info@tillamookcheese.com
Phone: 503-842-4481
Fax: 503-842-6039

Monsanto will stop at nothing to assure that their growth hormone will continue to be used despite the risks associated with it, and the ever-increasing demand for organic and non-rBGH milk products. You might remember that FOX news reporters Jane Akre and Steve Wilson were fired by their Florida station for refusing to back down on their story about rBGH after Monsanto sent a letter threatening legal action. They were profiled in The Corporation and are now challenging the FCC renewal of that TV station, WTVT in Tampa. You might also remember the $5.5 million that Monsanto and other agribusiness companies put into Oregon to defeat Measure 27 in 2002.

Although Tillamook voted last May, they wanted to keep it under wraps, and weren't planning to label their products rBGH-free, perhaps partly because of Monsanto's lawsuit against Oakhurst Dairy in Portland, Maine. In 2003, Monsanto sued Oakhurst when they became rBGH-free and started labeling their products as such: "Our Farmer's Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormone." Monsanto argued that the label was misleading since the FDA has found that there is no significant difference between milk with and without the hormone. The company settled out of court with Monsanto and now labels their products, "Our Farmer's Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormone Used. FDA States: No significant difference in milk from cows treated with artificial growth hormone."

Although the FDA has indeed found "no significant difference," studies have found that rBGH (marketed by Monsanto as Posilac) does have some very scary side effects for people and the cows that are injected with it. Perhaps the scariest prospect is that rBGH has been found (even by Monsanto) to increase the levels IGF-1, a naturally occurring hormone-protein found in both milk and humans. Studies have found that increased levels IGF-1 are associated with several different types of cancers in humans, and many people are worried about the correlation between consuming increased levels of this hormone in milk, and increased levels of the hormone in humans. Moreover, cows injected with rBGH are more likely to develop mastitis, an infection of the udder (which then requires use of antibiotics, which end up in the milk along with increased pus), and they tend to die sooner than cows not treated with the hormone.

rBGH is not used in most other industrialized countries, including the European Union, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. So, how did it get approved in the U.S.? The short answer is that there is a quite cozy revolving door relationship between the government and corporations. While this revolving door is prevalent in all facets of government, when it comes to government agencies that are supposed to protect our health, this revolving door can have serious consequences for us. A case in point is Michael Taylor - a former legal advisor to the FDA's Bureau of Medical Devices and Bureau of Foods, and later an executive assistant to the FDA Commissioner - who then became a partner in the firm of King & Spaulding where his clients included Monsanto. He then went back into government as the Deputy Commissioner for Policy at the FDA, then back to King & Spaulding, and is now head of the Washington, D.C. office of Monsanto ... whew! Got all that? (He, along with two others, were actually investigated by the GAO for their role in the approval of Posilac, although apparently no wrongdoing was found.)

When it comes to rBGH, the FDA did none of their own studies (as per usual), but, according to one FDA official, simply relied on a summary of a rat-feeding study that Monsanto conducted, and that the Canadian government later found to be seriously misrepresented. According to the Organic Consumers Association: "The Canadian report says that 20% to 30% of the rats fed rBGH in high doses developed primary antibody responses to rBGH, indicating that rBGH was absorbed into their blood. .... Furthermore, cysts reportedly developed on the thyroids of the male rats and some increased infiltration of the prostate gland occurred. Despite these results, FDA reported in SCIENCE that there were 'no... clinical findings' in the Monsanto rat study." In addition, FDA scientists who have spoken out against rBGH have faced serious reprimands from the agency. According to Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, "FDA Veterinarian Richard Burroughs said that agency officials 'suppressed and manipulated data to cover up their own ignorance and incompetence.' He also described how industry researchers would often drop sick cows from studies, to make the drug appear safer. Burroughs had ordered more tests than the industry wanted and was told by superiors he was slowing down the approval. He was fired and his tests canceled. The remaining whistle-blowers in the FDA had to write an anonymous letter to Congress, complaining of fraud and conflict of interest in the agency."

Here in Oregon, groups like NW Resistance Against Genetic Engineering and Physicians for Social Responsibility are working to stop Genetic Engineering in our state and around the country. It is perhaps the biggest threat to organic food and sustainable agriculture that we know of, and is an uphill battle all the way. If what Monsanto is doing to the Tillamook County Creamery Association pisses you off, please consider getting involved to stop this from happening in the future. With your help, we can stop Monsanto and reclaim our food!

To learn more about genetic engineering, NW RAGE invites you to hear author and activist Brian Tokar on Monday, Feb. 28 at the Food For Thought Caf? at PSU at 7 p.m. Brian will be discussing genetic engineering and Vermont's Town to Town Campaign urging a "Time Out on GMOs." Over the last four years, 79 towns have agreed that regulations are needed to protect Vermont farmers and food systems from genetic engineering. Come hear what is making this campaign a success and how we can help stop genetic engineering in Oregon.

Who: Brian Tokar to speak on GMO activism and successes in the Northeastern United States.
When: Monday February 28th - 7:00pm
Where: The Food for Thought Cafe - Portland State University, basement of the Smith Center, Room 026
Why: Vermont has been very successful in fighting GMO in their communities. Come learn what they did, how they do it, and how we can do the same.
Cost: Free for students - $5 donation request for others, no one turned away.

Brian has been an activist since the 1970s in the peace, anti-nuclear, environmental, and Green politics movements and is currently a faculty member at Goddard College and the Institute for Social Ecology in Vermont. He is the author of The Green Alternative: Creating an Ecological Future and Earth for Sale: Reclaiming Ecology in the Age of Corporate Greenwash, and was the recipient of a 1999 Project Censored award for his investigative history of the Monsanto company (The Ecologist, Sept./Oct. 1998). Brian's articles on environmental politics and emerging ecological movements appear frequently in Z Magazine, The Ecologist, Food & Water Journal, Synthesis/Regeneration, Toward Freedom, and numerous other publications.