Defending Good Science

April, 2004

Picketers on the Family Farm

If you can read this email, your life is about to be dramatically affected by new advances in biotechnology.

Sure, those are big words.  It’s a brash statement.  But it’s a true one.  The North American economy is about to undergo a dramatic revolution as biotechnology begins to create tools, technologies and materials that are commercially viable.

Please don’t misunderstand me – I’m talking massive, wholesale change.  Thirty years ago, the economy ran on manufacturing – GE was the largest company on earth.  Twenty years ago, it was about plastics and petrochemicals – Exxon was king.  The last decade has been about computing and information, and along came Microsoft.  Where was Microsoft 20 years ago?  It was Paul Allen and Bill Gates, working out of their garage.  Ten years ago, chances are you didn’t even know what email was.  So what’s ‘the next big thing?’  I think as petroleum becomes increasingly harder to access, and worldwide populations continue to grow that the next ‘big thing’ will be biotech. 

Whether change comes in the form of new waterproof or fire-resistant building materials, cheaper forms of fuel made from corn, or growing drugs and vaccines in tobacco plants, change is coming.  In five years, the keyboard you’re typing on may be made from soybeans.  The vitamin you take in the morning may be specially blended to complement your exact body chemistry.  And the food you eat will have more cancer-fighting proteins, or be grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers through genetic modification. 

What does this mean for the agricultural industry?  Well, for starters – agriculture won’t be about food anymore.  Quite simply, North Americans cannot compete on the world market in terms of sheer agricultural heft.  Soybeans can be grown cheaper inBrazil, and recent food safety scares have decimated the international beef and poultry markets.  Agriculture isn’t about food – it’s about innovation.  New technologies aren’t developed in a lab– they’re going to be grown in a farmers field.  Manufacturers are already ‘growing fuel,’ such as biodiesel.  Soon, the materials needed for other areas of mass production are going to be ‘grown’ as well. 

In order to compete, farmers aren’t going to be “Joe and Mary Farmer” anymore.  They’ll be “Joe and Mary – Plastics Producer,” or, “Joe and Mary – Chemical Processor.”  With technological advancements, opportunities for growth are near limitless, but with those opportunities also come risk. 

We’ve already started to see a higher amount of scrutiny of agricultural operations from activist groups.  Governments are passing laws related to manure discharge and water quality.  Food safety regulations have become increasingly strict, to the point where you can now track a steak back to the farm it was raised on. But the level of red tape, regulation and media interest pales in comparison to what exists in the manufacturing or chemical sectors. 

This will change. As farms tend to become increasingly considered ‘chemical plants’ rather than food stations, the level of media and activist interest is bound to increase.   How many farming operations are prepared to deal with picketers outside their gates?  

The genetically modified foods organizations (Monsanto, BASF, Pioneer Hi-Bred and the like) have an edge, in that they’ve spent the last 5 or 7 years being ‘the bad guys.’  They’ve taken their fair share of lumps from activist organizations and are used to being under the eye of intense public scrutiny.  Most other agriculture-based organizations simply have not.  In fact, public opinion pollng shows that farmers consistently rank high when it comes to public trust.  Unfortunately, that’s all about to change.   

Fortunately, smart organizations have a unique opportunity now to ‘make a deposit in the credibility bank’, rather than face future attacks blind.  After all, time spent answering unfounded allegations or responding to activist charges is time not spent securing your future.   

Everyone is vulnerable, there’s no question.  Take a look at the last ‘economic change’ – the dot com revolution.   After the dust settled, EBay and Google reign supreme – but former giants like Altavista or Lycos are now non-players.  Just how vulnerable are you?

Checkmate Link of the Month

The Council for Biotechnology Information is an industry organization comprised of a half-dozen leading biotech companies.  As I’ve pointed out, they’re used to being vilified by activist groups, and created the Council as a means of “communicating science based information about the benefits and safety of agricultural and food biotechnology.”  Their site really is a wealth of information about genetically modified foods, and even has sections specific to Canada and Mexico in English, Spanish and French.

http://www.whybiotech.com

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