As the media continue to burnish the “good health” halo
of the organic industry, another new narrative is emerging–that “Big Ag”
lobbyists are paying off lawmakers to advance their agenda while advocates of
the poor, beleaguered organic industry are camped mournfully outside the
Capitol in their compost-soiled overalls. The metamessage recalls the
admonition ascribed to “Deep Throat,” reporter Bob Woodward’s confidential
Watergate source: “Follow the money. Always follow the money.” That was the
central point of two recent articles in Politico and Civil Eats, which
portrayed Big Ag and food companies with deep pockets as hiring hordes of
professional lobbyists to further their interests at the expense of virtuous
“good food” companies, which can’t afford to lobby.
According to the Politico
article,“there is virtually no ‘good food’ industry lobbying strategy in
place, as the vanguards of healthier eating have largely ignored Capitol Hill.”
Civil Eats chimed
in,“From GMO [genetically modified organism] labeling to pesticides to the
source of the meat you buy, a handful of companies are spending heavily to keep
information off your food labels.” However, with the advent of social media,
the Internet and heavily-funded front groups that have no donor disclosure
requirements, the scope of “lobbying” has expanded. No longer does it mean
hiring a smooth-talking, cash-dispensing hired gun from Washington DC’s fabled
K Street.
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