It’s a rare glimpse behind the scenes of a war for influence. That which the United States delivers to countries which wish to strengthen their environmental regulations since the latter are likely to harm the exporting power of their agriculture. To the point of resorting to the same methods as polluting industries, and to the same public relations companies. Under the mandate of Donald Trump, the American administration called on such companies to torpedo the “Farm to Fork” (F2F) strategy – intended to “green” agriculture in the Old Continent.
Defend pesticides and genetically modified organisms at all costs, obstruct any strict regulation of their uses, denigrate organic farming and undo Europe’s agroecological ambitions: similar operations were carried out in Africa and Asia to promote the adoption of transgenic crops and the unhindered use of synthetic agricultural inputs.
Obtained by the investigative media Lighthouse Reports, and shared with The World and other international media, internal documents from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that the American administration used two communications and reputation management companies to do this. The first, White House Writers Group (WHWG), is based in Washington. The second, v-Fluence, is a small company with around twenty employees founded in 2001 and managed by Jay Byrne, former communications director at Monsanto. Based in Saint-Louis, Missouri, manager of a private database at the heart of pro-pesticide propaganda called “Bonus Eventus”, she specializes in advising agro-industrial firms – including agrochemical companies. who would also have a lot to lose in a hypothetical agroecological shift in Europe.
From Fidesz to Reconquest!
To understand, let’s go back to May 20, 2020. That day, the European Commission announced the broad outlines of two new strategies – “Farm to Fork” and the Biodiversity Strategy – intended to be the agricultural component of the Green Deal for the Europe, launched a few months earlier. The objective is in particular to “reduce pesticide use and associated risks by 50%”of “convert 25% of agricultural land into organic farming”a response to the scientific consensus on the need to make agricultural and food systems more sustainable.
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