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May 14 – GMA MISSION TO CRIPPLE CORN INDUSTRY EXPOSED: It was bound to
happen and today the whistle got blown on one of the key parties behind the well organized and well funded smear campaign against corn and biofuels, namely the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). The exposure
ended up being very public too, with the story breaking on the front page of Roll Call, the most widely read publication by Washington, DC decision makers.
The story delineates GMA’s rather tasteless, and dare I say immoral, role in
blaming corn for higher food prices, world hunger and I think even athlete’s feet.
Reporter Anna Palmer of Roll Call notes rising food and fuel prices have led the
biofuel industry to take a beating on Capitol Hill the past few weeks. But the pummeling hasn’t been by chance — it is part of a concerted effort spearheaded by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the
Glover Park Group.
According to Roll Call GMA has been leading an “aggressive” public relations
campaign for the past two months in an effort to roll back ethanol mandates that passed in last year’s energy bill. Taking primary responsibility for the campaign is a Washington DC-New York Public Relations and
Public Affairs company, known as the Glover Park Group.
The six month campaign is based on the assumption that the timing was right to go
after biofuels and deliver a blow that could permanently cripple the industry by cementing public opinion against ethanol. Needless to say the world rice and wheat crop failures, a weak U.S. dollar, and an
investment community seeking shelter in Ag commodities make their strategy look pretty sound, albeit slimy and based on misinformation.
GMA, which believes the current ethanol policy has caused a major rise in food
prices, sent out its request for Proposal in early March looking for a public relations shop to “build a groundswell in support of freezing or reversing some provisions of the 2007 Energy Bill and for the
elimination/reform of ethanol subsidies and import restrictions,” according to Roll Call.
The energy bill, which passed in December, includes a renewable fuel standard that
mandates 36 billion gallons of ethanol be produced yearly by 2022, up from about 7 billion gallons last year.
Ethanol is reducing gasoline prices up to 40 cents a gallon right now. So you think
an industry that ships its products on average of 1,500 miles to consumers would see the benefits, but apparently the idea of returning to their golden days of $2 corn was too enticing.
Regardless, it is one thing to frame a debate and argue your points aggressively
but it is something entirely different to frame a whole industry based on emotion, not fact. To use a hockey analogy it is ok to legally check someone and put your shoulder into them, but it is another matter to
high stick someone in the face with malice, forethought and the intent of doing damage.
Generally, high sticking results in a trip to the penalty box and getting taken
from play. What GMA has done here constitutes high sticking of the worst kind. They have given farmers, one of the most respected people in our society, a black eye that will be hard to repair. A trip to the penalty
box seems in order. I will leave the nature of that penalty up to you to ponder.
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