Monsanto, one of the largest creators and producers of genetically modified crops in the world, has not been working alone to push scientific agricultural innovation. Big names like Harvard University and the University of California, Davis, have semi-covertly published research at the behest of Monsanto.
Now, UC Davis is being sued by consumer rights group U.S. Right to Know for failing to disclose public records — after numerous Freedom of Information Act requests — on its work with GMOs and pesticides.
The lawsuit claims U.S. Right to Know had filed FOIA requests for information on UC Davis’ research and relationship with the agri-tech industry and received “a mere 750 pages back,” which is paltry compared with the thousands of pages of documents other universities sent back in response to similar requests.
“We are conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the collaboration between the food and agrichemical industries, their front groups and several U.S. universities,” said Gary Ruskin, co-director of U.S. Right to Know, in a statement.
“So far, documents obtained from other universities have shown secretive funding arrangements and covert efforts to use taxpayer-funded university resources to promote the products of various corporations. The public has a right to know what is going on behind the scenes.”
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Last year, The New York Times uncovered private emails that proved Monsanto was funding research at large universities. Later in 2015, a Harvard professor was raked over the coals for writing a pro-GMO research paper and failing to disclose his connection with Monsanto, according to the Boston Globe.
In response to the lawsuit, a law firm that has been previously associated with Monsanto has counter-filed a public records request of all of the correspondence between U.S. Right to Know and UC Davis.
The battle for GMOs has moved from the supermarket aisle to the courtroom.
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