Falsities, half-truths and smears marred essay on Tillamook milk

Thursday, March 31, 2005
IN MY OPINION
Rick North
Dr. Martin Donohoe
A recent op-ed piece by Alex Avery and Terry Witt ("Contriving a controversy concerning Tillamook's milk," March 25) questioned the legitimacy of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility's campaign to discontinue recombinant bovine growth hormone -- rBGH or rBST -- in dairy products.
Our organization, which prides itself on sound science, has intensively researched the scientific data and historical/political information on rBGH.
We discovered a deeply disturbing web of undue corporate influence in the Food and Drug Administration, where several of the agency's own scientists questioned the validity of the data and safety of rBGH. We learned why rBGH has been banned in most industrialized nations of the world and we saw how Monsanto, rBGH's sole manufacturer, intimidated many who opposed it.
Last week's op-ed was more than an attempt to silence the continuing controversy about the safety of this drug. It was an assault on citizen participation in democracy, on activism itself.
Our dictionary defines an activist as someone who takes "positive, direct action to achieve an end." In the past few years, the meaning of this word has been turned on its head to imply a negative, self-serving person. The prevailing definition disparages citizens who question corporate power or official government policy. It's illuminating to track those people criticizing activism and recognize their tactics.
One such tactic is the half-truth. Their op-ed gave the impression that our campaign had targeted Tillamook County Creamery with thousands of complaints and was wholly responsible for its decision. Actually, Tillamook had received comments about rBGH and had begun discussions about banning it before our campaign had even started. In the past year, we have asked consumers to urge Tillamook and other dairies to stop using the hormone. However, the thousands of comments we helped generate in the 10 days leading up to the membership vote were thanking Tillamook for its previous rBGH-free decision.
The op-ed also contained numerous totally false statements. One example: rBGH doesn't harm cows? Monsanto's own package insert lists more than a dozen harmful medical conditions that rBGH increases, including painful mastitis, foot disorders and reduced pregnancy rates. It's no wonder both the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Farming Association have condemned rBGH.
Monsanto has funded, directly or indirectly, both Avery's Hudson Institute and Witt's Oregonians for Food and Shelter. In fact, Monsanto has a representative sitting on the board of Witt's group.
Activists are more than just watchdogs. They have produced some of this nation's greatest accomplishments. Without them, 10-year-old children would still be working 12 hours a day in coal mines and sweatshops. Blacks would still be barred from schools, hotels and swimming pools. Women would still be denied the right to vote. In Oregon, activist William Steel spearheaded a 17-year struggle that led to the creation in 1902 of Crater Lake National Park. Activist Richard Chambers led the three-year battle for the 1971 Bottle Bill that became a nationwide model.
It is the right and responsibility of citizens to question government policy and challenge abuses of corporate power. When activism is attacked or neglected, democracy itself is in peril.
Avery and Witt got one thing right -- we are activists. And we're proud of it.
Rick North of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility is project director for its Campaign for Safe Food. Dr. Martin Donohoe, a physician, is the campaign's chief science adviser.