from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

Dr Fred Kirschenmann, the Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, is a notable critic of GMOs. He is also suddenly out of a job in a College of Agriculture that's been described as drawing "agribusiness cash the way a penned-up pig wallowing in its own waste draws flies." (see THE UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX)

We have many other notable news items this week, including the inevitable report that genetically engineering the world's entire flock of chickens will save us all from bird flu! (EUROPE)

Finally, don't miss LOBBYWATCH for some stunning greenwashing... and worse.

Claire [email protected]
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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INDUSTRIAL-UNIVERSITY COMPLEX
AUSTRALASIA
ASIA
EUROPE
AFRICA
MIDDLE EAST
THE AMERICAS
NEW RESEARCH
LOBBYWATCH
ETHICS
NEW BOOK
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK

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THE INDUSTRIAL-UNIVERSITY COMPLEX
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+ SUSTAINABLE AG CHAMPION KICKED UPSTAIRS
Fred Kirschenmann, a notable contributor to "The Future of Food" - the film that's increasingly reaching a mainstream audience in the U.S. with its troubling questions about food production and GMOs, is no longer the director of Iowa State University's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Kirschenmann says his move from director to "distinguished fellow" came suddenly and without his own input.

"On Wednesday," says Kirshenmann, "I received a letter from the interim dean asking me to resign by Friday and decide by then if I would accept the position of distinguished fellow at the center." Kirschenmann wrote back telling her that, "I thought she was moving too fast, that there wouldn't be time for a smooth transition. She wrote back that it was a done deal - she had already named a new director."

This sudden purge at the top has called the Center's much-prized independence from industrial agriculture into question. Kirschenmann says the interim dean who forced him out has claimed the Leopold Center was neglecting "key stakeholders". But she has never clarified "who those stakeholders were." When asked if she might have been refering to agribusiness interests, Kirschenmann says simply, "You can draw your own conclusions."

Kirschenmann has consistently argued for the urgent need for agriculture to go forward "into a more intelligent, diversified farming system." GMOs, Kirschenmann has said, are "simply another tool to make the monoculture work a little longer" in the face of the increased pests and diseases that monocultures encourage. For Kirschenmann GMOs are at odds with a more intelligent style of farming.

The Leopold Center's research has thrown up unwelcome findings. Even before Kirschenmann became director, its survey of approximately 800 farmers in Iowa showed that while over half chose GM soybeans because they believed they produced higher yields, the actual data from their farms showed the exact opposite.

The study also showed that GM soybeans and corn provided no economic benefits to farmers. When the study was repeated using information from the year 2000, it showed the same results: GM seed did not help a farmer's bottom line.

Those findings were published in 2001. In May 2002 Iowa legislators approved the transfer away from the Center of $1 million worth of funding earmarked for its work helping to cripple the Center's ability to support new research.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5899

+ ROW OVER BLOCKED GM VIDEO AIRED
Media networks, businesspeople, and University of Manitoba (U of M) students and staff witnessed a debate on "Are Corporate Interests Jeopardizing Academic Freedoms?" The debate pitted the two makers of the controversial documentary "Seeds of Change" against two university administrators.

According to Stephane McLachlan, associate professor in the faculty of environment and co-producer of "Seeds of Change," private interests on campus have reduced academic freedom at the U of M, specifically in regards to the right of students to disseminate critical research. He claims that this is reflected by the three-year struggle he and Mauro have faced to release their publicly-funded documentary.

"It's controversial in the sense that... it was very critical of the biotech industry as experienced by farmers and other experts . . . There's no doubt in my mind that if the video had been pro-industry it would have been released three years ago," said McLachlan.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5899

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AUSTRALASIA
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+ GM COMPANIES ACCUSED OF CONTAMINATING SEED
Greenpeace is accusing seed companies including Bayer of contaminating seed with GM material to force Australia to accept the technology. New tolerance levels have been set for canola seed, with GM tolerance levels set at 0.5 per cent for the next two seasons and 0.1 per cent after that.

Greenpeace spokesman John Hepburn says the decision lets biotech companies off the hook. "Contamination will continue to spread unless you put in strict controls and really push for zero contamination of seed."

Bayer CropScience has declined to comment on the Greenpeace allegations but says it welcomes the setting of a GM tolerance level.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5880

+ WA STILL AIMS TO BE GM-FREE
Western Australian Agriculture Minister Kim Chance says WA will still aim to be GM-free, despite supporting tolerance levels for GM material in non-GM canola. Mr Chance says the state can still legislate to make WA GM-free, but that probably will not happen for a few years.
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