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PR Firm Attacks Organic Food, Then Pitches Itself to Organic Companies
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Huffington Post
Posted: September 19th, 2016
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stacy-malkan/pr-firm-attacks-o...
News that Ketchum Inc., the public relations firm leading the charge to promote chemical-dependent GMO agriculture, is launching a new specialty group to capture a slice of the growing organic food market caught many food industry players by surprise last week. Ketchums new branch, called Cultivate, is pitching itself to help purpose-driven brands with a natural, organic, and sustainable focus. The news comes as Ketchum remains a key player in PR efforts to dampen demand for organic foods, spinning messages that tell consumers organics are over-priced and over-hyped. In 2013, Monsanto hired Ketchums parent company, Omnicom, to reshape its reputation amid fierce opposition to GMOs, according to the Holmes Report. Ketchum now works closely with Monsanto and the agrichemical industry on its massively funded PR efforts to promote genetically engineered food and crops, stop GMO labeling, downplay concerns about pesticides, counteract consumer advocates and convince consumers that organic food is no different from conventional food. A closer look at Ketchums past and current activities turns up more reasons that purpose-driven organic and natural food companies might want to steer clear of Ketchums Cultivate branch. Emails from the late 1990s indicate that Ketchum was involved in espionage against nonprofit groups that were raising concerns about GMOs. Ketchum ... has worked to undermine consumer advocates and the organic foods industry. It would be unwise for organic companies to hire the PR firm.
Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on food system corruption and the manipulation of public perception.
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