American Corn Growers Association
1730 M Street, NW, Suite 911, Washington, DC 20036
Phone 202-835-0023 | Fax 202-659-5760 | Email acga@acga.org

Center for Food Safety On several occasions the Center for Food Safety (CFS) has added the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) to the list of leftist groups endorsing its various anti-consumer petitions. In December 1999 and March 2000, for instance, CFS filed legal papers demanding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration begin labeling all genetically enhanced food products, despite scientific evidence and long review processes demonstrating their safety. CFS and ACGA are also members of the “Bolinas group,” a conglomeration of environmental and other anti-consumer groups (many funded by the same organic food producers) that pool their resources in order to try and force the government’s hand on the labeling issue. ACGA and CFS are also both underwriters of the anti-technology propaganda web site CropChoice.com.

Environmental Media Services Environmental Media Services (EMS) and the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) are both members of the “Bolinas Group,” a consortium of environmental and anti-technology groups. Bolinas groups work together to cripple food technology by lobbying governments for “warning” labels designed to scare consumers. They also have access to millions in funding via members of the Environmental Grantmakers Association. In addition, both EMS and ACGA are among the institutional sponsors of CropChoice.com, a web site devote to anti-food-technology propaganda. EMS has also arranged and promoted news conferences at which ACGA officers delivered speeches. One such event -- held in Washington in September 1999 -- featured ACGA board member Dan McGuire. The press release referred reporters to Stacia Tipton, an employee of Fenton Communications (EMS’s parent company).

Foundation on Economic Trends In the summer of 1999, a smattering of environmental activist groups and self-styled big thinkers met in Bolinas, California for the purpose of condemning genetically enhanced crops. The result was the so-called Pacific Declaration. Among the signatories were the Foundation on Economic Trends’ Jeremy Rifkin, and the fringe American Corn Growers Association.

Greenpeace Greenpeace and ACGA are both institutional sponsors of CropChoice.com, a web site devoted to anti-food-technology propaganda. Both groups are also members of the “Bolinas Group,” a consortium of environmental and anti-technology groups. Bolinas groups work together to cripple food technology by lobbying governments for “warning” labels designed to scare consumers. Greenpeace and ACGA were also both among the signers of a March 2000 FDA petition brought by the organic marketer-funded Center for Food Safety, demanding mandatory product “warning” labels on genetically improved foods.

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) are both institutional sponsors of the anti-technology website CropChoice.com. The groups have joined forces on at least two occasions to endorse legal petitions brought by the organic marketer-funded Center for Food Safety against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Both IATP and ACGA are also members of the “Bolinas group,” a conglomeration of environmental and other anti-consumer groups that pool their resources in order to try and force the government’s hand on the labeling issue. Bolinas group members also have access to millions in funding via members of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.

Institute for Social Ecology According to Food Labeling News, the Institute for Social Ecology and the American Corn Growers Association were part of a group of 25 environmental organizations that petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for mandatory biotech food labels in December 1999.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement The dissident farmer/activists of the American Corn Growers Association have found a kindred spirit in Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI). Both groups are members of the National Family Farm Coalition, an organization which uses the same politically-defined “family/factory farm” labels as ICCI. Both have also endorsed the “Farmers’ Declaration on Genetic Engineering in Agriculture,” a neo-Luddite screed that demands adherence to the discredited “precautionary principle.”

Mothers for Natural Law In December 1999 the American Corn Growers Association endorsed a legal action brought by a group of anti-technology organizations, including a Fairfield, Iowa group called the Alliance for Bio-Integrity. This latter outfit is controlled by followers of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose teachings also inspired Mothers for Natural Law. In addition, two Maharishi-oriented entities (the Natural Law Party and the Maharishi University of Management) are members of the “Bolinas Group,” a coalition to which the American Corn Growers Association also belongs. The Bolinas Group is a consortium of environmental and anti-technology groups, working together to cripple food technology by lobbying governments for “warning” labels designed to scare consumers. Bolinas group members also have access to millions in funding via members of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.

Natural Resources Defense Council At a March 21, 2000, press conference, the organic marketer-funded Center for Food Safety unveiled a petition demanding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration begin requiring warning labels on all genetically improved foods. Among the co-signers of this document were the American Corn Growers Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Northern Plains Resource Council In December 2001 a coalition of five activist groups was formed specifically “to fight agribusiness” during the formation of the 2002 Farm Bill in Washington. Called the “National Farm Action Campaign,” this ad hoc federation included both the American Corn Growers Association and the Northern Plains Resource Council. Other members included the National Family Farm Coalition, the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.

Organic Consumers Association The American Corn Growers Association and the Organic Consumers Association both endorsed a March 2000 petition demanding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration begin requiring warning labels on all genetically improved foods. The petition was written, organized, and promoted by the misleadingly named Center for Food Safety, which is underwritten by organic food marketing companies.

Sierra Club The Sierra Club and the American Corn Growers Association are both members of the "Bolinas Group." The Bolinas Group is a consortium of environmental and anti-technology groups, working together to cripple food technology by lobbying governments for "warning" labels designed to scare consumers. Bolinas group members also have access to millions in funding via members of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.

Union of Concerned Scientists Both the Union of Concerned Scientists and the American Corn Growers Association -- which, needless to say, does not really represent most corn growers -- joined the Center for Food Safety and more than 50 other foes of biotech in 2000 to demand that the FDA subject genetically enhanced foods to burdensome approval standards and labeling procedures.

Western Organization of Resource Councils During the congressional battle over the 2002 farm bill, both the American Corn Growers Association and the Western Organization of Resource Councils (along with 38 other anti-consumer agriculture groups) signed a letter to the members of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee. The letter encouraged Congress to adopt the terms of Senator Harkin’s “competition title,” which would have made it illegal for meatpackers to own their own beef cattle. Although this maneuver ultimately failed, it demonstrates the lengths to which some organizations will go to unfairly tilt the playing field in their favor: rather than competing with packers, groups like ACGA and WORC sought to eliminate them from the economy entirely.

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