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ISIS Report 01/09/14
Seeds of Truth
Vandana Shiva Responds to The New Yorker
Editors Note: The New Yorker carried a very long article in its 25 August 2014 issue Seeds of
Doubt by journalist Michael Specter, dedicated ostensibly to Vandana Shiva and the antiGMO
campaign, but is in truth a nonetoosubtle ploy to discredit both in the service of the biotech
industry. Specter had already published a book in 2009, Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders
Scientic Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives, purporting to defend science from
its critics in denial of scientic progress (see a review of the book here: http://grist.org/article
/20091031michaelspecterdenialismorganicgmo/). This is her reply.
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I am glad that the future of food is being discussed, and thought about, on farms, in homes, on
TV, online and in magazines, especially of The New Yorkers caliber. The New Yorker has held its
content and readership in high regard for so long. The challenge of feeding a growing population with the added obstacle of climate change is an
important issue. Specters piece, however, is poor journalism. I wonder why a journalist who has been Bureau Chief in Moscow for The New York
Times and Bureau Chief in New York for the Washington Post, and clearly is an experienced reporter, would submit such a misleading piece. Or why
The New Yorker would allow it to be published as honest reporting, with so many fraudulent assertions and deliberate attempts to skew reality.
Seeds of Doubt contains many lies and inaccuracies that range from the mundane (we never met in a caf but in the lobby of my hotel where I had
just arrived from India to attend a High Level Round Table for the post 2015 SDGs of the UN) to grave fallacies that aect peoples lives. The piece
has now become fodder for the social media supporting the Biotech Industry. Could it be that rather than serious journalism, the article was
intended as a means to strengthen the biotechnology industrys push to engage consumers? Although creative license is part of the art of writing,
Michael Specter cleverly takes it to another level, by assuming a very clear position without spelling it out.
Specters piece starts with inaccurate information, by design.
Early this spring, the Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva led an unusual pilgrimage across southern Europe. Beginning in Greece, with the
international PanHellenic Exchange of Local Seed Varieties Festival, which celebrated the virtues of traditional agriculture, Shiva and an entourage of
followers crossed the Adriatic and travelled by bus up the boot of Italy, to Florence, where she spoke at the Seed, Food and Earth Democracy Festival.
After a short planning meeting in Genoa, the caravan rolled on to the South of France, ending in Le Mas dAzil, just in time to celebrate International
Days of the Seed.
On April 26th, 2014, at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, one of Germanys most renowned state theatres, I gave a keynote speech for a conference on
the relation of democracy and war in times of scarce resources and climate change. From Berlin, I ew into Florence for a Seed Festival organized
by the Government of the Region of Tuscany, Italy, The Botanical garden of Florence (the oldest in Europe), Banca Etica and Navdanya. I was joined
by a caravan of seed savers, and we carried on to Le Mas dAzil where we had a conference of all the European seed movements.
It would be convenient in the narrative that Specter attempts to weave, to make this exercise look like a joyride of unscientic people on a
pilgrimage. Writing about the European governments, universities and movements accurately would not suit Specters intention because the
strong resistance (including from governments) to GMOs in Europe is based on science.
My education doesnt suit his narrative either: a Ph.D. on the Hidden Variables and Nonlocality in Quantum Theory. Specter has reduced my M.Sc.
Honors in Physics to a B.Sc. for convenience. Mr. Specter and the Biotech Industry (and The New Yorker, by association) would like to identify the
millions of people opposing GMOs as unscientic, romantic, outliers. My education is obviously a thorn in their side.
When I asked if she had ever worked as a physicist, she suggested that I search for the answer on Google. I found nothing, and she doesnt list any
such position in her biography.
Specter has twisted my words, to make it seem like I was avoiding his question. I had directed him to my ocial website since for the past few
months I have repeatedly been asked about my education. The Wikipedia page about me has been altered to make it look like I have never studied
science. The Biotech Industry would like to erase my academic credentials. I have failed to see how it makes me more or less capable of the work I
do on evolving and ecological paradigm of science. I consciously made a decision to dedicate my life to protect the Earth, its ecosystems and
communities. Quantum theory taught me the four principles that have guided my work: everything is interconnected, everything is potential,
everything is indeterminate, and there is no excluded middle. Every intellectual breakthrough I have made over the last 40 years has been to move
from a mechanistic paradigm to an ecological one. I had the choice to continue my studies in the foundations of Quantum Theory at the Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) or to take up a research position in interdisciplinary studies on science policy at IIM, Bangalore. I chose
the latter because I wanted a deeper understanding of the relationships between science and society.
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Vandana Shiva Responds to The New Yorker http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Vandana_Shiva_Responds_to_the_New_Yorker.php
1 of 3 2014-09-20 5:48 AM
There are 13 comments on this article so far. Add your comment
Harriet Barlow Comment left 1st September 2014 16:04:06
I am grateful to Vandana for this, but it seems like a mere beginning as a response to the New Yorker article. I hope that other ISIS members will
join in the critique.
Rory Short Comment left 1st September 2014 16:04:10
It seems to me that the biotech industry is only interested in making money. In the face of advancing science the outdated science behind the
products that they promote is becoming less and less plausible. For this reason they have to try to discredit anyone whose thinking is moving
forward in tune with scientic advance. They have to so because their income stream depends on the public buying into the out dated science
behind their products. It is actually totally cynical and I would categorise their behaviour as criminal because it is aiding and abetting ecocide.
Mary Saunders Comment left 1st September 2014 21:09:11
I nd this an interesting downturn in credibility at The New Yorker. I wonder why their report on Tyrone Hayes and the harassment he
experienced from Syngenta seems now to belong to a dierent era. This piece sounds like the hit jobs from magazines like Forbes where there
are clear reasons why industry bias would obtain. A mean, fratboy type tone is in evidence here. I wonder about gender in this context as well.
Did it seem ok to attack an Indian woman in a place where U.S. exceptionalism might play well? This was really a cheap and sad article in my
estimation. I hope it is not a trend, and I hope independent scientists can get a few words in, in pushback.
Elizabeth Slipp Morgan Comment left 1st September 2014 18:06:01
Even without quantum theory or an industrial or university education, with age and experiences comes wisdom. The problem is, not many
people are willing to listen to their conscience or sort out the bombardment of information that is coming at them every day. Thus, we quietly go
away with our knowledge and suspicions that it has all happened before.
david llewellyn foster Comment left 2nd September 2014 08:08:05
"Could it be that rather than serious journalism, the article was intended as a means to strengthen the biotechnology industrys push to engage
consumers?" Ha ha ha! Bravo Vandana... Mr Specter's devious tactic will have regrettable consequences for the New Yorker; and, happily, for
the biotech racket. Such disreputable and disgraceful behaviour may be de rigeur for the shabby proponents of criminal disinformation and
character assassination ~ but to anyone with the capacity to discriminate wisely, exercise their cognitive faculties freely and judge matters in the
clear light of empirical evidence, it is yet another futile and febrile exercise in deceptive merchandising.
Anupam Paul Comment left 2nd September 2014 12:12:37
Whatever the jargon or educational qualication in dealing the biotech industry is not tantamount to science for the people, nature and the poor
farmers around the world. Common sense is very uncommon now a days specially those who earns money from GM crops.They are so blind that
they try nd faults with others. They can't see the cheaper, safer and ecofriendly alternatives that exists over millions of years.According to
them the greater the money the greater is the science. Dr Vandana Shiva actually talks about common sense and nature conservation for
sustainable safe food production.
Todd Millions Comment left 2nd September 2014 21:09:49
Last year,M. Specter was interveiwed on CBC radio,ogging his book.He used multi vaccines,in a lie on those critisising side eects,CBC had just
done an expose interview on what was actually said on this matter a couple months earierBut they let Mr Spector's comment slide.My
impression was he knew he was lying.So nowhe is emboldened.This bears followingHill and Knowlton are back at warmongery AND working for
Toxanto in Ukraine.New venues and useful idiots for such work would surely be appreciated by the patrons of such campains.
GMOsRdeadl4allbutCorporateAmerica Comment left 3rd September 2014 07:07:34
It is so witness the decline of American science, American journalism, American academia, and the health of the American People thanks in
large measure to Corporate America. But perhaps such decline is inevitable. So, let it be said again: empires rise and empires fall. America is,
apparently, no dierent. But I hope I am wrong. In the meantime, Americans need to be profoundly and mercilessly skeptical of American mass
media including American magazines and newspapers which are conventionally assumed to have a "liberal," "intellectual," or "scientic" slant.
As a lifelong academic, I am almost daily reminded that our honoric institutions are in dramatic decline at seemingly every level. We have
"scientists" who are little more than bad corporate technicians, "academics" who should have never darkened the doors of academia, journalists
who are incapable of conducting genuine journalism and asking tough questions, and of course, "leaders" utterly incapable of real leadership.
But perhaps I'm being optimistic. Let us be skeptical. And now, let us be particularly skeptical of the newspapers and magazines of record as
never before. It is 2014, and the last word concerning GMOs has yet to be said, although I hope to hear that "last word" in my lifetime : Banned ...
banned from Planet Earth... long with pesticides, herbicides, and all the failed detritus of the most massive technological failure in the history of
the world: American "Agriculture."
Melvyn Firmager Comment left 3rd September 2014 16:04:47
I was taught from young never to believe what the newspapers say, without nding out for myself. A lifetime of experience has conrmed that
stance. On occasions when I have been reported on, I hardly recognise myself! It is said the mainstream American newspapers are in bed with
the corporate biotech industries, and the rest, and being controlled. I can well believe it. And see no reason to assume otherwise, the newspaper
in question. Good on you Vandana, for the work you do for the sake of all life and the planet. Your qualications matter little to me in one sense,
as it is the person who counts. But on the other hand it is good to see and know a qualied person is not being contaminated by the power
hunger and money grabbers of the industries, who are pulling out all the stops to take control of, well everything. Of course, on the other hand,
your qualications enable you to be looked upon highly by many, and that does make a big dierence.
Vivian Parker Comment left 5th September 2014 13:01:26
Thank You, Vandana Shiva, you are brilliant. I read the article in the New Yorker alsoit got forwarded to me as a link on Facebook, and I could
not believe what I was reading. It seemed so clearly a hit piece paid for by the biotech industry. It had all the marks. There is backlash in the airI
believe the biotech industry is worried, and they are putting lots of money towards shaping public opinion, as they did after the rst "Flavrsavr"
tomato was rejected by the public ($5 billion then, as I recall...for public relations). Sadly, many scientists are actually not deep thinkers or
original thinkers, they frequently are of herd mentality and excel at following others.(Of course, we know that all good scientists question
everything!). So it is easy enough for the industry to nd willing spokespeople who will dismiss GMO opposition through that old hackneyed
technique, calling the opposition "antiscience" and "luddites." The biggest problem is their own lack of education. Most have spent no time at
all in wild nature. If they did, they would begin to appreciate true complexity. It is that wildness that is at risk from unleashing what cannot be
called back.
Vandana Shiva Responds to The New Yorker http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Vandana_Shiva_Responds_to_the_New_Yorker.php
2 of 3 2014-09-20 5:48 AM
tony villar Comment left 6th September 2014 13:01:12
Monsanto and their minions will stop nothing to control the Food Supply. The mainstream media has been corrupted.
algimantas k bronisas Comment left 8th September 2014 22:10:07
the money worshiping capitalist snake has run out of greed and envy and is now cannibalizing itself,in its suicidal rush for more,cheaper and
faster ,it gnawed, tasted and decided to eat and swallow its own tail.....lets risk life itself for prot....and cover up the
deaths......HIROSHIMA,NAGASAKI,BHOPAL,VIET NAM,CHERNOBYL,BP OIL SPILLS,ALL OIL TANKERS TOXIC CLEANOUTS DUMPED INTO THE
WORLDS OCEANS,FUKUSHIMA RADIATION KILLING FOR THREE YEARS,ISRAEL LIKE A SUICIDE BOMBER,STRAPPED WITH 500 NUCLEAR
WEAPONS!!!!! THE SUNS ENERGY THAT LANDS ON THE EARTH IN ONE DAY ,CAN SUPPLY THE WORLDS ENERGY NEEDS FOR A YEAR...where are
our wise men.....??????
Pat Ewing Comment left 19th September 2014 10:10:11
From Remnick's response. "4.) We take particular exception to your charge that Mr. Specters physical description of a farmer, with skin the
color of burnt molasses and the texture of a worn saddle was racist. It wasnt. In a 2005 prole he described the Italian designer Valentino this
way: Valentino spends a lot of time in the sun. His skin, the color of melted caramel, has the texture of a lovingly preserved Etruscan ruin. Last
year, Specter described a sixtyeight year old American farmer as having a tan, weather beaten face. His fourth point is still wrong, though not
necessarily deeply racist. The writer does describe the Indian farmer in a condescending and disparaging manner. The rst part of the
descriptions, describe the Indian farmer as 'burnt molasses,' burnt generally conjures somewhat more negative connotations. Burnt body, burnt
food, burnt forest. Valentino, who has a name, is described as melted caramel. Melted caramel sounds pleasant and is the basis of many desserts.
The American farmer was described as tan, an actual Crayola color. Two, the second halves of the descriptions also possess a similar tinge. The
Indian once again gets the shabbiest treatment. Velentino is described as an 'Etruscan antiquity,' something of great value and beauty. The
American farmer has a 'weather beaten face.' Not very positive, but within the American mindframe brings up notions of hardworking sons of
the soil imagery. Even if you disagree it beats the poor 'worn saddle' our Indian farmer is described as. A saddle, a utilitarian object placed upon
an animal, which you'd place your rear upon. Possibly your writer has come to hate all Indians in the process of hating Vandana Shiva, or maybe
he is a racist, or just some yuppy hack shill who gets a thrill out of bullying and spitting upon the most unfortunate and nonwhite of us.
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Vandana Shiva Responds to The New Yorker http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Vandana_Shiva_Responds_to_the_New_Yorker.php
3 of 3 2014-09-20 5:48 AM