We all know that biotech lobbyists spend millions of dollars influencing the political agenda, but the former CEO of Stonyfield Farms and a public supporter of GMO labeling just hosted a $2700-per-person fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in his own home. What were the intentions?
Organiconsumers.org discloses some interesting information about how Hillary is raising funds for her 2016 presidential campaign. You wouldn’t expect the former chairman of the board for JustLabelIt.org, Gary Hirshberg, to be pandering for money for a known GMO supporter, or would you? Let’s hope it wasn’t like that.
According to the Boston Globe, Hirshberg said that the fundraiser didn’t mean he was supporting Hillary for president.
Organiconsumers.org reached out to Hirshberg through Scott Faber, the current executive director of Just Label It, and they have yet to receive a response.
Clinton was recently dubbed “the bride of frankenfood” by former supporters in Iowa who learned that she had deep ties to the biotech industry while she was campaigning there.
Clinton is on record stating that biotech professionals need to continue to promote the case for GM seed:
“I stand in favor of using seeds and products that have a proven track record. . .There is a big gap between what the facts are, and what the perceptions are.”
Many women voiced strong support for Clinton’s candidacy until the GMO issue brought light to her true character, at which time they were prompted to switch allegiances to Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, a liberal stalwart challenging her for the Democratic nomination who has vocally supported GMO labeling.
“Clinton has also declared her desire to get industry representatives around a table to have an “intensive discussion” about “how the federal government could help biotechs with insurance against [financial] risk.”
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