EXTRACT: "Everybody in the agricultural and food industries, as well as those who legislate and regulate it will find this book highly interesting and useful," says Lynn Henderson, President, Henderson Communications (publisher of AgriMarketing magazine. AgriMarketing describes itself as the global hub for agribusiness).
GM WATCH COMMENT: Dennis and Alex Avery have been spreading BS about organic ag for years. Alex is the Director of Research and Education at the Center for Global Food Issues at the Hudson Institute. His father, Dennis, is the Center's Director.
Much of Alex Avery's time has been spent defending his father's claims, particularly those affecting organic food. But even one of his closest brother-lobbyists, Greg Conko of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has commented critically to him on his dubious use of statistics: "looking at a few selectively reported cases from a single year doesn't seem to be convincing anybody who doesn't already have a predilection to believe you in the first place."
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=15
Alex Avery previously co-authored 'Organic Industry Groups Spread Fear for Profit' - a report whose co-authors included Graydon Forrer, Monsanto's former head of executive communications. The report failed to disclose the Monsanto connection.
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=14
The report was launched via NoMoreScares.com - a website which has now been withdrawn but which had as its front man the former Monsanto lobbyist and self-styled 'Junkman', Steven Milloy.
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=14
Monsanto seems to pop up just about everywhere Alex Avery goes. It's a Hudson Institute backer. And among the 'Hudson Scholars' who, like Alex, specialise in biotechnology is Michael Fumento, a senior fellow who was recently sacked as a columnist by Scripps Howard News Service for failing to disclose payments he's received from Monsanto.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6132
And although Alex Avery and his collaborators accuse others of using fear as a marketing method. Fear is at the very heart of the anti-organic attacks the Averys specialise in, as Tom Philpott recently noted:
"Very few people are actually passionate about industrial food... Alex Avery of the Hudson Institute -- funded lavishly by right-wing foundations and agribiz giants -- is a different breed altogether. Indeed, it's as though Monsanto conjured him up in a test-tube: the fellow seems to have a congenital hatred of organic food -- and a burning desire to make you hate it, too. His preferred method for achieving his goal is fear."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7084
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NEW "THE TRUTH ABOUT ORGANIC FOODS" BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE AgriMarketing, Nov. 14 2006
http://www.agrimarketing.com/show_story.php?id=43563
Henderson Communications, publisher of AgriMarketing magazine, announces the new book "The Truth About Organic Foods" has been recently published is now available to be ordered.
The author of the book is Alex Avery, Director of Research and Education for the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues. Avery earned a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry from Old Dominion.
He was a McKnight Research Fellow at Purdue University until starting with Hudson in 1994. Since then, Avery has written several Hudson White Papers on food safety and environmental impacts of farming, and has been published on food and farming matters in scientific journals such as the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Science, and Environmental Health Perspectives.
In addition, he has written dozens of op-eds published in such newspapers as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Des Moines Register. He has also made appearances discussing organic foods on Fox News, CNNfn, and Penn & Teller's show on Showtime.
"The book is not anti-organic," says Avery. "It does, however, dispel many of the outlandish and irresponsible claims some of the organic promoters are making."
The book's Forward is written by Dr. Ruth Kava, Director of Nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health in New York, NY.
The 192-page book includes chapters on:
* The Strange, Romantic History of Organic Agriculture
* Is Organic Food Really Healthier?
* Organic Pesticides? Yep!
* Hormone Hype and Antibiotic Angst
* A Few Bushels Shy
* Dismantling Capitalism and Other Fun Ideas
* The Organic Threat to the Planet
"Everybody in the agricultural and food industries, as well as those who legislate and regulate it will find this book highly interesting and useful," says Lynn Henderson, President, Henderson Communications. "Alex has done a terrific job of identifying and addressing the many issues that surround organic foods."
Discounted pre-publication pricing through August 31, 2006, is available, with single copies at $18.95, plus shipping and handling. Multiple copy discounts are available.
Single copies can be ordered by going online at www.AgriMarketing.com and accessing "The Truth In Organic Foods" link.
For more information on ordering multiple copies, contact Judy Knoll at Ph: 636/728-1428, ext. 2002, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.