Why Worry about the Agriculture of the Middle?

This report outlines the agriculture of the middle sector and specific actions and policies that need to be addressed. It was prepared as a white paper of the Leopold Center with input from a number of authors

Seeding Science, Courting Conclusions: Reexamining the Intersection of Science, Corporate Cash, and the Law

Social scientists have expressed strong views on corporate influences over science, but most attention has been devoted to broad, Black/White arguments, rather than to actual mechanisms of influence. This paper summarizes an experience where involvement in a lawsuit led to the discovery of an unexpected mechanism: A large corporation facing a multibillion-dollar court judgment quietly provided generous funding to well-known scientists (including at least one Nobel prize winner) who would submit articles to "open," peer-reviewed journals, so that their "unbiased science" could be cited in an appeal to the Supreme Court. On balance, the corporation's most effective techniques of influence may have been provided not by overt pressure, but by encouraging scientists to continue thinking of themselves as independent and impartial

Agricultural Biotechnology: Its Recent Evolution and Implications for Agrofood Political Economy

This paper provides an overview of the recent development of the agricultural biotechnology sector and suggests what are likely to be some of the major issues in agrofood biotechnology in the future. I argue that while biotechnology has become increasingly entrenched as an approach to agrofood research and development, there are enormous public and especially corporate resources committed to biotechnology, and the growth of GMO market share in U.S. soybean, corn, and cotton production has been impressive, there has recently been growth of social resistance to biotechnology that casts the technology's and industry's future in some doubt. In addition to discussing the extent and limits of social resistance to biotechnology, I explore several other facets of agrofood biotechnology--global consolidation of the biotechnology industry, trade in GMO-produced food products, and the new corporate focus on "value-enhanced crops"--that will have a critical bearing on its future. I conclude by suggesting that while social resistance to agrofood biotechnology is very unlikely to derail the industry, public opposition will shape corporate strategy and could possibly shape research priorities in public biotechnology research.Agriculture; Biotechnology; Consumption; European Union; Food; Political Economy; Social Movements; Trade; World Trade Organization

Why Worry about the Agriculture of the Middle?

This report outlines the "agriculture of the middle" sector and specific actions and policies that need to be addressed. It was prepared as a white paper of the Leopold Center with input from a number of authors.</p