AlterNet: By Katherine Paul, Zack Kaldveer: 93% of the Public Wants GMO Labeling.

Monsanto and the Big Agribusiness Giants Plan to Spend Millions in Propaganda to change our minds. Monsanto and Big Food are taking the battle for consumer's hearts and minds to the next level. And it's no coincidence that they're pulling out the big guns just as the Washington State I-522 campaign to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products is gaining steam. Can industry front groups and slick public relations firms convince us that the products they're peddling are not only safe, bit good for us? Will the millions they spend on websites and advertorials pay off? We're guessing not, given the latest New York Times poss stating that 93 percent of Americans want labels on foods containing GMOs. Still, it can't hurt to know who's behind the latest salvo of lies and misinformation. In this case, it's a new website and forum, introduced by biotech trade groups no doubt with the help of a new PR firm. And a new front group. The freshly launched GMO Answers
.com is funded by the biotech industry, which claims it just "wants yo talk." And the recently formed Alliance to Feed the Future, representing more than 50 multinational food, agribusiness and biotech companies, wants to give us the "real" scoop on our food system. Monsanto Has All the Answers! Last month the Holmes Report revealed that Monsanto was interviewing public relations firms to spruce up its image. A tall order given Monsanto's status as "most evil corporation in the world." A google search of "Monsanto most hated corporation" returns over 823,000 results. This week, the New York Times reported on the launch of GMOAnswers.com, a new website intended to "answer virtually any questions posed by consumers about genetically engineered crops." Except, of course, where they're hidden in our food. You've got to hand it to the PR firm -new, old, Monsanto's or otherwise, that landed that article. Who gets a mention in the Times these days just for launching a website? Organizations that are funded by Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta  and BASF, apparently. The Times quoted, extensively, Cathleen Enright, executive director of the Council for Biotechnology Information and also vice president for food and agriculture at another trade group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Enright told the Times that: "We have been accused of purposely hiding information. We haven't done that but now we will open the doors and provide information." Say what? Enright couldn't emphasize enough how this was all a result of the biotech industry being misunderstood by the public, and how Monsanto and the rest of the industry just wants
to be open. Whoever registered the website domain name for GMOAnswers.com doesn't share Enright's new touchy-feely enthusiasm for openness and transparency.