For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

Remember this name: The Mellman Group.

In my last several articles, and a number of earlier pieces (complete archive here), I’ve been highly critical of the anti-GMO political movement in America.

Whereas many other nations have chosen to enact full or partial bans on GMO food, in the US we have had what?

Something much weaker. Ballot initiatives, which attempted to make GMO labels on food mandatory.

The monotonous and soft slogans? “You have a right to know what’s in your food.” “The right to choose.”

All four of these ballot campaigns have failed: California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado.

Where did these dumbed-down weak slogans come from?

They were justified as a result of a 2012 poll conducted for Just Label It, Gary Hirshberg’s organization.

Hirshberg supported, in election campaigns, two of Monsanto’s most influential political allies in the world: Tom Vilsack, now the head of the US Dept. of Agriculture, and Barack Obama, who has opened the door to the largest parade of new GMO crops yet permitted.

Who conducted that poll for Just Label It and Hirshberg?

A powerful PR agency based in Washington DC: The Mellman Group.

In 2012, the Mellman Group’s poll yielded this result: 91% of the 1000 voters surveyed said they wanted GMO labeling, and this conclusion was interpreted as “consumers have a right to know what’s in their food.”

So that became the single mantra in the ballot measures.

Who has The Mellman Group represented? Get a load of a few of its clients:

Coca Cola. Nestle. Pepsico. The FDA. The World Bank. Do these names mean anything special to you?

Coca Cola, Pepsico, and Nestle were major funders AGAINST passage of the GMO-labeling initiatives in Western states.