Sea Change, Inc. and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute sponsored a Congressional briefing on agricultural biotechnology in January of 2000. In the aftermath of protests accompanying the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, it was particularly timely to have a panel of experts discuss research and policy implications of transgenic crops and genetically modified foods. Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-IN), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, provided opening remarks.

Agricultural biotechnology have dominated news headlines and also have been the focus of Congressional hearings. During this briefing, experts on agricultural biotechnology discussed their perspectives on many of the central issues to this important topic. Briefing participants included:

Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-IN), Chairman, Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. As Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee and himself a farmer, Senator Lugar is a leader in the Senate on agricultural biotechnology issues. Senator Lugar's opening remarks follow-on from hearings on agricultural biotechnology he held last October before the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Dr. Gordon Conway, President, Rockefeller Foundation. Previously, Conway served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex and Chair of the Institute for Development Studies. He has authored Unwelcome Harvest: Agriculture and Pollution; The Doubly Green Revolution: Food For All in the 21st Century; and Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All.

Dr. Calestous Juma, Visiting Scholar, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Juma served as Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and was founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies in Nairobi, Kenya. He is currently completing a book on biotechnology and comparative public policy. His earlier works include Long-Run Economics: An Evolutionary Approach to Economic Growth and The Gene Hunters: Biotechnology and the Scramble for Seeds.

Patrick Holden, Director, Soil Association in the United Kingdom. Holden was a member of the United Kingdom Regulator of Organic Food Standards Board (1987-1999) and has international experience with organic agricultural standards as a past Chair of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements Accreditation Committee. Holden has been an organic farmer and speaks regularly on organic food and farming issues.

Dr. Wes Jackson, President, The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. Jackson has written several books and papers including most recently, Rooted in the Land: Essays on Community and Place; Becoming Native to This Place; and New Roots for Agriculture. Work at The Land Institute has been featured extensively in the popular media. Jackson is a recipient of the Pew Conservation Scholars award (1990) and a MacArthur Fellowship (1992).

Dr. Timothy Ford, Associate Professor, Harvard School of Public Health; Chair, Sea Change Scientific Advisory Committee. Ford will serve as moderator of the briefing panel. He directs a program in water and health and conducts research on the survival of pathogens in water and other areas of water pollution research. He also is an associate of the Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment.

Sea Change is a non-profit independent environmental analysis group and takes no position on any issue. Its mandate is to ensure that policymakers and the public receive current information on public health and environmental issues in accessible language so that informed decisions can be made. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute, founded by a bipartisan group of Members of Congress in 1984, helps meet the critical need for timely information, fosters the exchange of ideas, and seeks innovative solutions to major environmental and energy issues.

For some current news, reference and research material on agricultural biotechnology, please click here.

Please click here to view the Briefing Summary!