Myth Makers

An A-Z of the people and groups behind the push for GM. It includes links to the web portal GMWatch SpinProfiles - our in-depth guide to the networks of power, lobbying and deceptive PR around the GM issue.

 

Bernd Halling
Germany
European public policy manager of EuropaBio.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
See also: EuropaBio

Jonathon Harrington
UK
Pro-GM agricultural consultant and part of the biotech industry-funded lobby group CropGen who claims to have grown GM crops in Wales against the unanimous wishes of the Welsh Assembly.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
Article: Farmer of faker?
See also: CropGen

HarvestPlus
USA
Also known as the Challenge Program on Biofortification, HarvestPlus is a programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to produce nutritionally enhanced crops (in practice, this often means GM) for the Third World.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
See also: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, International Rice Research Institute

Ron Herring
USA
Cornell based anthropologist and advisor, along with CS Prakash, to the industry-linked Bangalore-based Foundation for Biotechnology Awareness and Education (FBAE).
Article: China, Rice and GMOs, Response to Herring from DDS
See also: Shanthu Shantharam

David Hill
UK
Director of the PR and lobbying firm Bell Pottinger and former managing director of its subsidiary Good Relations, where he was a public relations advisor to Monsanto. Was director of communications for former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
See also: Bell Pottinger Good Relations, Chime Communications

Hill and Knowlton
USA
PR and lobbying firm at the centre of controversy for its work for the tobacco industry and for garnering support for the US invasion of Iraq.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
See also: Spiked

John Hillman
UK
Former director of the Scottish Crop Research Institute and formerly on the board of the BioIndustry Association. Has followed Dennis Avery in making unsubstantiated pejorative claims about organic food.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
See also: Dennis Avery, BioIndustry Association, Scottish Crop Research Institute

Hoover Institution
USA
Pro-corporate think tank. Henry I. Miller, who lobbies for GM food, is a senior research fellow.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
See also: Henry I. Miller

Horticulture Research International
UK
The UK government's main testing and development arm for market gardening, fruit and related crops. When under the direction of controversial CEO Mike Wilson, it took on a markedly pro-GM role.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile
See also: Mike Wilson

Hudson Institute
USA
Conservative free market think tank with biotech industry funding. Hosts the Center for Global Food Issues, directed by Dennis Avery.
Profiles: GMWatch SpinProfile, SourceWatch
See also: Alex Avery, Michael Fumento



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