Sustainable Food

Islam Siddiqui has been nominated as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. If Congress confirms Siddiqui, he will no doubt continue to undermine public health, biodiversity, climate stability and food security as the "inside man" in the Obama Administration for his former clients at CropLife (a front group for genetic engineering and chemical-intensive agribusiness corporations including Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Dow Chemical).

Croplife America’s regional partner, Mid America CropLife Association, notoriously “shuddered” at Michelle Obama’s organic garden and launched a letter writing campaign in protest, saying that Michelle's rejection of toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the White House Garden was a slap in the face for Food Inc. and America's chemically-addicted farmers.

Another Washington wheeler-dealer using the revolving door between government and big business, Siddiqui formerly worked for Clinton's pro-biotech USDA. Siddiqui gained notoriety in 1997-98 as an insider pushing for the infamous proposed USDA regulations for national organic standards that would have allowed toxic sewage sludge, irradiated foods, and genetically modified organisms to be labeled "organic." At the time, Siddiqui explained:

Number one, there's no prohibition in law against these two issues, both GMOs and irradiation. Number two, we know that Organics Board had recommended against those two items in the organic agriculture. There's a considerable debate on these issues; it's a public debate issue. So essentially, the department has felt that we want to open it up, we want to seek comments. And it could be any one of the three choices; either it could be allowed, it could be prohibited, or it could be allowed on a case-by-case basis, especially dealing with GMOs.

Another reason he gave was " ... some of the agencies within the U.S. government felt that we will be inconsistent in going to the EU and telling them to not require GMO contents being spelt out in ingredients." As the special trade advisor to Clinton's USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, Siddiqui threatened Europe with economic reprisals from the WTO is the EU wouldn't allow GE food imports.

After a nationwide SOS (Save Organic Standards) campaign, led by the OCA and our allies, which generated an unprecedented backlash, Siddiqui and his cohorts backed down and withdrew their proposals.

Roger Beachy, Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture

On October 5, 2009, Roger Beachy, long-time president of the Danforth Plant Science Center (Monsanto's nonprofit arm), became the chief of the USDA's newly created National Institute of Food and Agriculture (a nomination that doesn't require congressional approval). Roger Beachy should not be steering the direction of US agricultural research. Beachy is a long time Monsanto collaborator who heads an institute which was established by Monsanto and academic partners with a $70-million pledge from the corporation. It's effectively a Monsanto front.

It's time to take down Siddiqui and Beachy. We must tell the Senate to reject President Obama's nomination of Siddiqui as the Agricultural Trade Representative and ask President Obama to withdraw his appointment of Beachy.

Click here to take action. 

Source: Organic Consumer Association