Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy

Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy lobbies for crop-based fuels. According to the Wall Street Journal, "a group of U.S. agribusiness companies including Archer Daniels Midland Co. are uniting in the intensifying food-versus-fuel debate, forming an alliance to promote the idea that technology can ease global supply shortages. The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy -- which includes seed makers Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co., as well as farm-gear maker Deere & Co. -- wants to spread its belief that renewable fuels won't cut into food supplies if new technologies, such as genetically modified crops, are used to their fullest. The group is also working hard to protect government subsidies for ethanol." The PR giant Burson-Marsteller also works with the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy.

In July 2008, the Alliance announced plants to "use lobbyists on Capitol Hill and national ads to build the case for fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, even as grain prices climb worldwide. The biofuels industry has blossomed under federal mandates requiring the United States to increase alternative fuel usage by 2009. The mandates are under attack from groups who blame the new industry for rising food prices that have sparked riots and hoarding in several countries. ... The alliance has a budget of several million dollars for the campaign, but it did not disclose the exact amount."

In September 2008, Burson-Marsteller's lobbying firm BKSH & Associates Worldwide announced that it was working for the Alliance. The BKSH lobbying team for the account includes Gabe Rozsa, the former environmental counsel to the Republican Science Committee; Rich Meade, who worked for Iowa Republican Congressman Jim Nussle when he chaired the House Budget Committee; and Stefan Bailey, the former legislative director for Representative Nick Rahall, reported O'Dwyer's.

Member corporations
From their website:
 * Archer Daniels Midland
 * Deere & Company
 * DuPont
 * Monsanto
 * Renewable Fuels Association

Contact information
Media contact: Neil Grace of Burson-Marsteller, phone: 202-296-8843 Email: press AT foodandenergy.org, anne.thomas AT advo-comm.com

Website: http://www.foodandenergy.org/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * BKSH & Associates Worldwide
 * Burson-Marsteller
 * Front groups
 * Grocery Manufacturers Association

External resources

 * National Press Club news conference, July 24, 2008.

External articles

 * Diane Farsetta, A Planted Story on Ethanol Plants, PRWatch.org, April 6, 2006.
 * Alexei Barrionuevo, Springtime for Ethanol, New York Times, January 23, 2007.
 * GMA Is Fueling the Ethanol Backlash, PRWatch.org, May 14, 2008.
 * Obama's Love Affair with Ethanol, PRWatch.org, July 3, 2008.
 * News Release, July 24, 2008
 * Heavyweights to Lobby for More Biofuel, Washington Post, July 25, 2008.
 * Doug Cameron, Agribusiness Group Forms To Protect Ethanol Subsidies, Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2008.
 * New biofuels lobbying group formed by some of the biggest players in agribusiness, Associated Press, July 25, 2008.