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How The Food Industry Tries to Silence Us (My Appearance on CNN…)

I got a request to be on CNN last Sunday night asking me to discuss the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak. But here’s the crazy thing…

My appearance on national TV really pissed off some people. And no – not because it was on CNN. (My stance on national media has always been to take the opportunity to spread the truth, no matter what outlet). 

So why would anyone be enraged that I went on TV to talk about lettuce?

Let me explain…

There are a band of food industry people who follow my every move and do whatever they can to bring our movement down. This includes people who work with Big Food and chemical corporations and public relations firms who represent these companies. They don’t want an activist like me to have an audience and to tell people the truth about our food supply. This threatens their profits… and when you are a threat, you become a target. It can be scary at times, but I do my best to not let it sway me.

So after my appearance on CNN last weekend, I found myself again being targeted with a tactic called “astroturfing”. This is something they have done to me in the past, often after I make a big public appearance or launch a successful campaign or petition.

Astroturfing is a fake grassroots movement, which is used to make it look like there is either widespread support or disapproval of a person, issue, or company – even if there is not.

When an astroturf campaign is launched, it will look like there are swarms of people on one side of the issue, when in all actuality, it is a small group of people working together backed by public relations firms or special interest groups. Astroturfing is designed to shape and distort media messages to fit a industry-friendly narrative and manipulate public opinion. 

For instance, when we petition a Big Food company and ask them to drop a harmful additive from their food, hundreds of social media profiles (some real, some fake) are activated and flood Facebook with messages in opposition to what we are asking the company to do. When we asked In-N-Out Burger to stop the routine use of antibiotics, several profiles came to In-N-Out’s Facebook Page and told them specifically not to change and not to listen us “fear mongers.” The same happened when we wrote about the risky additives in Boar’s Head deli meats and asked them to improve

Astroturfing also happens behind the scenes and off of the pages of social media. When I am invited to speak at events, a swarm of social media profiles spam the organization who invited me to speak. When I was on the cover of Experience Life magazine and when Yahoo Health featured me in some videos, they tracked down the editors of these publications and swamped them with complaints. It appeared on the surface that the complaints were coming from dozens of separate individuals, but it was actually a small group of people working together to make it appear that way.

If you’ve been following me for awhile, I’m sure you’ve seen astroturfing in action…

The shocking insults and name-calling…

The relentless bullying…

The defamatory allegations…

The canned “industry-friendly” responses…

After you’ve seen it a few times, it becomes glaringly obvious. 

Astroturfing is effective because it diverts attention away from the REAL ISSUES.

It encourages people to talk smack about a person – like Dr. Oz is a “quack” and Food Babe is a “fearmonger” – versus the real issues of having Roundup weedkiller in our food and artificial dyes in our mac n’ cheese. They fear an honest discussion with what’s wrong with these chemicals in our food.

To show you what I’m up against, this is what happened after I was on national TV this week… 

An astroturfing campaign was kicked off by a woman who calls herself “Farm Babe” (wonder where she came up with that name?!). She is a conventional farmer who has worked as a “social media influencer” for Domino’s Pizza, Arctic Apples (GMO), Tyson Foods, and Elanco (maker of livestock drugs). She writes a regular column in Ag Daily – a publication backed by Monsanto and Bayer. Numerous makers of conventional farm feed and GMOs have hired her to speak at their events. She is literally working directly with Big Food and Ag brands. She also has a personal stake in the industry. On her farm she grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa and raises conventional beef on a feedlot that uses grains and growth hormones.

She works with many of the big players in Ag who are proponents of factory farming – something I want to change – so of course, she does not like what I stand for. So it was no surprise that she posted this on her Facebook page after my appearance on CNN:

I’ll address her comments about sewage sludge and antibiotics, but as you see below, her post engaged a swarm of people to send emails to CNN to complain about me and tell them to never have me on their network. Here are just a handful of responses to her post:

As you can see – there were swarms of people contacting CNN about my appearance.

After Farm Babe launched this astroturf attack, a science writer at The Daily Beast caught on…

I don’t know exactly how she got wind of it – but if I was a betting woman (and in this case, I would love to take a bet if I someone is daring enough to come forward to tell the truth about what happened here) – I would bet she was tipped off by Farm Babe herself or other industry-aligned people with an agenda.

The journalist Tanya Basu tried to fact check what I said – but instead FAILED miserably… 

In fact she completely disregarded what I said and made up a narrative that suited the FDA’s response. 

On CNN, I said I choose whole heads of lettuce (over bagged cut lettuce) because there are fewer points of potential contamination. I also made it clear that this wouldn’t always eliminate the risk and that you cannot wash E. coli off of contaminated lettuce. 

I said I like to minimize the touch points in the supply chain when I make food choices. The less processing a product goes through, the better. And this isn’t wrong – especially when it comes to lettuce.

Lettuce is known to be particularly tricky when it comes to food safety as everything ranging from “production practices, harvesting, packing, processing and food handling have all been linked to illnesses associated with leafy greens. E. coli can get into food through manure, contaminated water used during growing or harvesting, or improper food handling at a store, restaurant or home”. Buying a whole head of lettuce does minimize these touch points. 

She went on to state that some scientists have said my “hatred of additives” is rooted in “anti-science” and “perpetuates myths”. To back up this statement, she quotes Kevin Folta criticizing our successful campaign to remove azodicarbonamide from Subway’s bread. It is irresponsible that she uses this argument for two reasons. One – scientists do back up the fact that azodicarbonamide breaks down into carcinogens when baked. Secondly – Kevin Folta was the scientist quoted who is a known shill for the chemical industry.

Also, I am correct in stating that the overuse of antibiotics is creating superbugs that can’t be treated with antibiotics. According to the World Health Organization, “The high volume of antibiotics in food-producing animals contributes to the development of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, particularly in settings of intensive animal production… Many of the bacteria (such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and Escherichia coli) carried by animals can also cause disease in people. These bacteria, which are frequently antimicrobial-resistant, can contaminate our food supply from farm to fork, such as through slaughtering and processing. Fruits and vegetables may also be contaminated by such bacteria at the farm or later through cross-contamination.”

As you can see, they try to mince my words on purpose to try to destroy my credibility.

What a journalistic fail on this writers fault. She does a real disservice to public safety by spending her time attacking me.

They want me to be scared and go away… 

They want to control the narrative – so that everything you see on TV, in the news, on billboards, and on food packages is pro-processed food, pro-chemical, pro-Big Ag, and pro-Big Food.

I refuse to let them silence me. I will not back down from telling people who will listen what I know. And plenty of people are listening. And this is WHY I wrote my new book Feeding You Lies.

I know these types of attacks will be ramping up as this book is hitting stores in a few short months. In the book, I go into greater detail on the many different ways the industry pulls stunts to fool the public (and the media). It’s eye-opening and you need to know what’s going on!

Please pre-order a copy of Feeding You Lies to show the food industry that you support the work I am doing. Pick up a couple extras for your loved ones, it makes a great gift!

ORDER NOW

Feeding You Lies

Available in stores everywhere

I need every single one of you by my side.

The best way to make astroturfing less effective is to tell everyone about it! Please share this post. 

Xo,

Vani

P.S. Here’s some additional information on Farm Babe’s claims for any science journalists that want to really fact check:

Fact Checking The Farm Babe SOURCES:

1Sewage Sludge as Fertilizer: Safe?

Agricultural use of sewage sludge

Antibiotic resistance of E. coli in sewage and sludge

Biosolids Hit The Fan

2. Big Beef keeps getting bigger, thanks to growth drugs with unclear safety records

The way some meat producers fatten up cattle is more bizarre than you might think

Farm Babe: What you need to know about growth hormones in meat

3. Critical antibiotics still used on US farm animals despite superbug crisis

Crucial antibiotics still used on US farms despite public health fears

4. Most grocery store meat contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria: 4 things to know

Antibiotics in Meat Could Be Damaging Our Guts

Another concern: Drug residues in meat

Watch the CNN clip here:

 

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146 responses to “How The Food Industry Tries to Silence Us (My Appearance on CNN…)

  1. Wow…what a sad, pathetic group of people these astroturfers are. They are clearly brainwashed and victims/slaves to the food system that we are all trying to improve.

    I feel bad for them, and I really hope that they will someday wake up from being slaves to the companies that keep humans sick and sad.

    Keep up the good fight, Vani!

    1. Clearly these people are savages they poison there own people and devaluate objectivity.. Monsanto and there poison have caused the Chinese to stop importing Canadian wheat, we can go on for hours about the down side of the FDA, however I would be wasting my time.

      Please be careful

    2. I wrote a note to farmbabe:
      Michelle, you should be ashamed for being so hypocritical and a poison for humanity (if you happen to understand the deeper meaning of the word humanity). Have you ever had a little conscience? Bayer, Monsanto, coluded too many times with FDA, and the powerful group you work with are the worst cancer on this planet. And you dare to argue that science says one thing and another, when it is a fact that scientists only declare what the bribes of these transnationals pay them. This, and you, have prostituted themselves to the degree of no longer realizing how harmful all of you together are to this world.

    3. Look at Kevin Trudeau he’s been criticized and go through the same thing for years fighting for us against the food industry drug industry

  2. I Support You Vani! Keep doing what you are doing, I’ve been following you for a long time! Continue educating us and informing us about what we put into our bodies. I will be purchasing your book soon. Keep telling the Truth!

  3. Besides ignorance there are industry trolls and bots that flood legitimate threats like you. Ignore them and keep doing the good words and work!

  4. You are awesome Vani! Farm Babe’s emabrassing rant was well…just a rant. Absolutely no facts to support her claims.

    Keep up the great work Food Babe!

  5. So sorry people are so nasty :/ thank you so much for having a voice ! We appreciate you ❤️

  6. Don’t ignore them. Get in front of it. You did well. We can all find something to improve. Use the criticism as the stepping stone to gain even more support. Find a way to make those farmer connections she criticized you about. Post a bibiliography supporting your fact checks, even if you have to say “Anonymous” instead of a person’s name because they’re afraid of being ostracized. Find a way to bridge the two sides. Keep up the good work. The world needs people like you.

  7. Vani, it must be hard to listen to these haters but those of us that appreciate the work you are doing would love to let CNN know that they picked the perfect guest to interview. (Notice they did not request to interview “what’s her name?”..lol)
    Please feel free to post a link after each interview so that we can thank folks for having you appear and provide your expertise on the subject. Don’t forget that you have a team behind you and we are thankful for all you do.

  8. I support you and your cause! Common sense would tell people that the information you are providing makes sense and that people with vested interest in what you are fighting will stop at nothing to keep their lie alive!

  9. I’ve seen them pumping out human sludge on the crops, grosses me out. I’ve also seen them spraying the crops with glyphosate in the fall before harvest. I know it’s true. I live in farm country.

  10. You do awesome work. I’m sure you are more thorough in your investigations that any investigatory branch of our government. Even if they are checking some things, do they check 100% of farms/industries 100% of the time. I don’t think so, no government agency is perfect by any means (or even close to perfect). After all, we had Agent Orange (no problems there), we have Roundup (no problems there) so if anyone thinks that our agriculture and areas related to our food are perfect, just keep eating what you’re eating and hopefully it won’t be you or your loved ones that are affected negatively by known harmful practices…but someone will be!

  11. Thanks Vani for the good fight. Anytime I’m trying to figure out who’s scamming and lying I always look for the motive of money. Clearly it’s going to be pretty tough on the status quo having the supply chain disrupted but for Gods sake this is our health! We keep fighting and choosing better food.

  12. Wow it’s scary how evil these companies are, how low they will sink…

    First I’ve heard of “astroturfing…”

    Thanks for all your efforts. You know, even my local health food store coop in Kent, Ohio doesn’t know that a lot of their bulk granola has roundup in it. Geez it took 10 years for me to figure out I’ve been eating Roundup…

  13. Vani,
    I’m not surprised by the way they are attacking you, it’s their MO. If it wasn’t you it would be someone else. They are uneducated and haven’t a clue and sometimes ignorance is bliss for people. Not your fault.
    If you weren’t making a difference they wouldn’t be threatened by you. And keeping people from knowing the truth is what their jobs are.
    Keep your stand girl, many are benefiting because of you.
    I am sorry you have to go down that road with them, it must hurt knowing that you are doing your best to get the word out and help as many people as you can.
    We have a huge re-education job ahead of us. Farmacology by Daphne Miller explains the depletion of our soils and remember the food we eat and the animals are all eating from that soil.
    I too am a Health Coach and educating people is my business. It’s not always easy but know, I am here all the way behind you girl! God Bless

  14. I admire your strength and courage. I believe in you and appreciate your grassroots efforts to get the Truth out there. Keep up the good fight.

  15. For me, it boils down to this, do I prefer to bet on an advocate who is working to get preservatives, pesticides, artificial flavors, artificial dyes, etc. out of the foods my family, friends, neighbors and I consume? Or do I put my money on paid lobbyists, hired guns for chemical companies, or business moguls who work to keep the status quo? I answer this question by thinking of all the people I have seen both in my personal life, and in my work life as a registered nurse that have been devastated by cancer! I’ll place my wager on the proactive individuals who are trying to simplify our food sources in this country, by getting rid of all the crap that is currently sold to our citizens as nourishment.

  16. I’m sorry you have to go through this. Keep the light on them and educating people on this shameful act. Not only are you having this done to them it also is affecting our political field.

  17. I agree, Vani, if they’re making it easy to talk trash about you, help us help you by providing a link for us, because if we post on hers, won’t it possibly be misused?

    I used to cry as a kid when my dad drove us past cattle farms to the beach! I’ve always known that “Happy cows come from California!” -is a LIE.

  18. You are making a difference in our Food Supply, being asked for your input on CNN is just another bit of proof of that. BRAVO Keep up the Good Work.
    Have to say I watched another interview you did where the interviewer (AJ)seemed very biased against you years ago, but even then you held your own and did not crumble and answered all her questions with professionalism. ♡♡♡

  19. I am all in with you! I preordered your book. My brothers are big onion farmers…and they have definitely been fed lies about all they do to “nourish” their crops. It’s just that way for the Agriculture business! They chuckle that I would waste my money to buy organic.

    Anyway, thank you for all you are doing to educate America! I pray that you will be protected, as you continue to spread your message! Thank you!!

    Jane

  20. Thank you Vani for all your hard work and perseverance. You are amazing and I truly appreciate all your research and investigative work. The food and pharmacy companies are more concerned about money than individuals. Stay strong and keep up the fight. I’m looking forward to your new book. May God continue to bless you for helping so many lives.

  21. I liked how she said, ‘They haven’t been allowed since 2017″ like that was a long time ago..wink wink…nod nod. I have watched several documentaries and considering they have a hold of the entire world. Not saying that all of it’s true in those documentaries, but I know that I don’t feel as bad when I eat actual real food from local farmers and NOT the processed crap they tend to sell. I am not sure if I believe any of the meat farmers when it says “no antibiotics” on the label.

  22. Don’t worry about the negative money hungry corporations and the people working for them. Also, many people are afraid of change. You are doing fantastic work for people who want to be healthy. You are in good company of many doctors that you have been on with–Doctors Furhman, Dr. Hyman, etc..

  23. Vani, please don’t ever give up/be discouraged. Anyone that watches CNN with the heart of actually believing them is actually so far left they don’t actually know how evil evil is.
    Pray for them. Look how they’ve tried to destroy Trump. RELENTLESS they are, as they know they will be defeated in the end. THANK YOU for your tireless work, bravery and diligence to keep food from being GMO’d [ God Move Over ] all over the planet. etc.
    We pray God’s protection all about you, your home and family. The health Ranger has to keep a gun at his side testing the foods.
    Do you all see how they’ve dumbed people down enough that any reasonable argument is now lost to sheer nonsense. No such thing as a debate anymore. Not allowed. won’t be any control if people can debate.

  24. Well, “Farm Babe”, unlike the Food Babe, I am one of your so-called “experts” since I have been married to a veterinarian for over thirty years and have worked in the business my entire life. I can tell you with 100% certainty that our food supply is NOT safe. Antibiotics, hormones, other drugs, chemicals, biologics and GMOs are in our soil and water and on our foods as well as part OF our food, and it is creating havoc with our health. Very little of our food is actually CHECKED for these contaminants unless there is a problem. The American public would do well to listen to people like the Food Babe and DO THEIR HOMEWORK. Money is all that matters to big corporations, and you would have to be a fool to think otherwise.

  25. You work so hard at finding out this information. Thank you! We need people like you that aren’t afraid to stand up to the nastiness going on in our country.

    1. That link does work… just left some love for Vani on it. Everyone support Vani… click the link!!!!

  26. You inspire me with your courage. It’s no small thing you are doing outing big ag’s dangerous practices. Thank you for fighting and continuing to speak out. We support you and appreciate you!

  27. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with what you said. You were stating some common facts about the food industry and you weren’t pointing out one company. Thank you for all you do! Sorry there are people out there like this.

  28. Foodbabe, we love u! Bottom line,, Farm babe is Jealous of your success, and Beautiful looks! I am Woman, and it is very clear! She wishes she could be u! You r powerful! Simple as that!! Keep moving forward, and never look back!

  29. I left feedback for CNN as well, thanking them for featuring you and for giving a voice to those of us who care about the food supply chain and removing GMOs from our food! Keep up the fight!!
    P.S. I preordered your book!!

  30. Farm Babe is all about the Money!! You are all about the WELL BEING of the people! It is all so very clear! , FARMBABE ( she has copied your name “BABE” OMG??? !) is
    J E A L O U S of YOU!! You Go Girl!!!!

  31. Thank you for all the links and these eye opening articles. People are generally scared of what is true and are more comfortable believing a lie. Who would want to think these articles are true and know how many years we have been exposed to this chemical garbage? I hope you continue to stand strong. Thanks for not being afraid to find out what is true.

  32. Thanks for all your hard work and being unafraid to face these horrible people. You have a large group of followers who know the truth. It’s so sad in our ‘free’ country, that it’s becoming more and more difficult for us to have ‘free speech’ or an opinion that differs from others without being attacked for our beliefs.

    I know you’re a fighter and won’t give up. One thing though I was disappointed with your choice of words in your opening statement. The ‘p’ word is disgusting and I hate hearing it more and more, especially from a respected woman.

  33. My best friend was poisoned by Cross Bow 25 years ago. She picked up a bottle in the store. The lid was not on correctly and a little dripped down both her arms and onto her foot. She went to the bathroom and washed it off. Five weeks later she was in the doctor’s office and he was telling her that she had about 5 months to live. She sought out a Naturopathic doctor who sent her to a detox clinic. She spent months detoxing through colonics, dry saunas, and veggie juices. She was very ill but survived. Most of her organs healed but not her lungs. She has about one-third lung capacity. Today, she is on oxygen. The doctors have been shocked over the years at how well she has done. She has not healed herself with drugs but with organic foods, natural supplements, and avoiding chemicals. I have watched this journey. The work your are doing is imperative. Please be encouraged by those of us who support you. You are the “Trump” of the food industry, fighting against incredibly tough foes who will go to great lengths to discredit you. God Bless You. I pray for you and your family. Thank you for all your hard work on my family’s behalf.

  34. Vani, the price of freedom: constant alertness, constant willingness to fight back (L.Ron Hubbard); also: eternal vigilance is the price of liberty (one of our founding fathers). You go, girl!!
    And to Farmbabe I quote Shakespeare: the lady protests too much, methinks.

  35. Dear FoodBabe. Astroturfers are Industry trolls. It’s good you addressed the farm girl’s comments with some truth. Aside from that, haters gotta hate — and might need to be ignored when possible, just because they are time wasters. Conventional farming isn’t sustainable, except farm girl likely does get paid to troll you. So, for her it’s sustainable to troll you. But otherwise, conventional farming is a very expensive way to farm because they’re tied to the marketing strategy of Bayer-Monsanto (B-M). Conventional farmers must buy everything from seeds and plants for gardening, also they must buy all the chemicals the B-M marketers recommend and up-sell. Every year. They are tied in via contract. Besides the deadly chemicals, farmers must also buy crop insurance, irrigation systems — and most conventional farmers end up in terrible debt, even bankruptcy. Many conventional farmers end up losing their farms. In India, farmers are committing suicide.The last report I read stated 250,000 deaths. I also read that Bayer-Monsanto’s next project will be going after African women. Oxfam is raising money to start them on their deadly B-M treadmill. Conventional farming isn’t sustainable, except for Bayer-Monsanto. They’re getting rich off the backs of the farmers caught on their deadly treadmill. Sad, but true.

  36. With you all the way!
    You need to provide a link for us to email CNN as well 🙂 We’ll have some great feedback to share with them, including this article x

  37. You have changed my whole perspective on what food I buy for myself and my family. Keep up the good work! You are truly an INSPIRATION.

  38. Great job! Your work is so important! I just ordered a copy of your new book! Thank you for continuing the fight!

  39. Money will go to any lengths to protect itself. Profit is the undisputed, overwhelming influence. Keep up the good fight, Vani. Any of us with half a brain and a conscience not yet destroyed by contamination are with you.

  40. I am sure these comments were ‘plants’ by the new ‘News Guard’
    community that are so afraid of the truth being told!
    There will be more and more Internet Censorship coming from the big corporations to prevent people like Vani alerting and educating us about the dangers in our food, Vaccinations, etc. The ones who will suffer are the ones
    who fall for their lies and censorship. Enjoy your GMO and Glyphosate!
    To your health!

  41. This all goes to show how the almighty $$$$$ and greed has corrupted a lot of people and our government. We have sat back for years and trusted our government to look out for us through FDA. We believed that they would never allow anything put into our food that would harm us, but the almighty $$$$$ was too tempting to them.

    God built our bodies to burn the fuel of natural food which HE provided abundantly for us. After our wonderful age of chemistry came around, some manufactures found cheaper ways to make our food and to make it last longer. They found out how much money this could earn them and they went crazy with greed. They know better, but totally ignore the fact that they are harming and killing a lot of people.

    Vani, thank you so much for all the hard work and sacrifice you have given to fight for all mankind. Keep up the good work.

  42. You don’t have to be a so-called “scientist” nor “farmer” to know something. Keep up the good work

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