Re: Agribusiness throws its weight around on campus

On Oct 15, 5:10�am, Steven Robinson <srobi...@comcast.net> wrote:

California agribusiness pressures school to nix Michael Pollan
lecture

By Steve Chawkins The Los Angeles Times October 14, 2009

Agribusinesses across the U.S. have a beef with sustainable food
guru Michael Pollan, but at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo it has taken
on a definite sizzle.

Threatening to pull donations from the school, a major California
agribusiness has succeeded in turning what was to be a campus lecture
by Pollan tomorrow into a panel discussion involving Pollan, a
meat-science expert and one of the largest organic growers in the
U.S.

"While I understand the need to expose students to alternative
views, I find it unacceptable that the university would provide
Michael Pollan an unchallenged forum to promote his stand against
conventional agricultural practices,'' David E. Wood, chairman of
the Harris Ranch Beef Co., wrote in a scathing Sept. 23 letter to
the Cal Poly president.

Wood has pledged $150,000 toward a new meat processing plant on
campus. In his letter, he said Pollan's scheduled solo appearance
had prompted him to "rethink my continued financial support of the
university.'' He also criticized an animal sciences professor who
said that conventional feedlots like the one run by Harris Ranch
were not a form of sustainable agriculture.

Cal Poly officials said they had contemplated using Pollan's talk
as the basis for a panel discussion at some point, but the negative
reaction to the scheduled lecture from Harris and other agricultural
interests propelled the plan onto the front burner.

"When we realized how significant a backlash was coming, we thought
of having the panel right after his speech," said David Wehner, a
Cal Poly dean.

"I'm frustrated and saddened by some people's attitudes,'' he said.
"They've looked at this as us supporting his views and not supporting
them. We don't have a political position -- we only educate students.''

In an interview, Pollan said he rejected the idea of appearing on
a panel after his scheduled talk.

"I thought, 'Wow! You're going to add some whole other event at the
behest of some cranky donors?' " he said of his response to the
change. Pollan said he offered the university a choice of either
having him lecture or participate in a panel.

Pollan, who teaches in the journalism program at UC Berkeley, has
encountered resistance to his campus appearances from farm businesses
in Washington and Wisconsin. "It's part of what appears to be a
more aggressive industry pushback against critics of industrial
agriculture,'' he said in an interview.

He said the Harris letter raised troubling questions about academic
freedom.

"The issue is about whether the school is really free to explore
diverse ideas about farming,'' he said. "Is the principle of balance
going to apply across the board? The next time Monsanto comes to
speak at Cal Poly about why we need [genetically modified organisms]
to feed the world, will there be a similar effort? Will I be invited
back for that show?"

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/california-agribusiness...
es-school-to-nix-michael-pollan-speech.html

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