Remnick's Response To Anti-Biotech Activist Vandana Shiva
From the Genetic Literacy Project, an excerpt of New Yorker editor David Remnick's letter resonding to Vandana Shiva's criticism of Michael Specter's profile of her (and her campaign against genetically modified crops, entitled, "Seeds of Doubt":

I should say that since you have said that the entire scientific establishment has been bought and paid for by Monsanto, I fear it will be difficult to converse meaningfully about your accusation that the story contained "fraudulent assertions and deliberate attempts to skew reality." But maybe I am wrong; I'll try.

...One hardly needs to hold a Ph.D. in physics to become an effective environmental activist, as you have demonstrated. Yet, when a prominent figure, such as yourself, is described for decades--in interviews, on web sites, in award citations, and on many of your own book jackets, as having been "one of India's leading physicists" it seems fair to ask whether or not you ever worked as one.

...Your math and conclusions on the issues of farmer suicides and seed prices and values differ from the math in studies carried out by many independent, international and government organizations. Mr. Specter is far from alone in rejecting, based on data, your charge that Monsanto is responsible for "genocide" in India. In your letter you state that "Specter promotes a system of agriculture that fails to deliver on its promises of higher yield and lower costs and propagates exploitation." This has always been your position, but as Mr. Specter pointed out in his article, there have been many studies on the effects of planting BT cotton in India, and on the whole, scientists - none of whom were connected to Monsanto -have found the opposite to be true.

You say that the prices of seeds are extremely high, but also that as a result of your action the government regulates their price. Several recent studies have shown that Bt cotton has been highly beneficial to cotton farmers in India. One of the best recent studies on the economic impact of Bt cotton on farmers found that "Bt has caused a 24% increase in cotton yield per acre through reduced pest damage and a 50% gain in cotton profit among smallholders. These benefits are stable; there are even indications that they have increased over time.'' The researchers also show that Bt cotton adoption has raised consumption expenditures, a common measure of household living standard, by 18% during the 2006-2008 period and conclude that Bt cotton has created large and sustainable benefits, which contribute to positive economic and social development in India.

...4.) We take particular exception to your charge that Mr. Specter's physical description of a farmer, with "skin the color of burnt molasses and the texture of a worn saddle" was racist. It wasn't. In a 2005 profile he described the Italian designer Valentino this way: "Valentino spends a lot of time in the sun. His skin, the color of melted caramel, has the texture of a lovingly preserved Etruscan ruin." Last year, Specter described a sixty-eight year old American farmer as having " a tan, weather beaten face."

A comment by "Gilmore" at reason, where I found this, in a blog post by Ron Bailey:

I think the whole 'treat charlatans with respect' rhetoric needs to go. Rather than be "dismayed and distressed" by Shiva, Remnick (or someone) should simply state in completely unqualified language:

"You are a liar, and a demagogue; your claims consistently run afoul of easily demonstrated facts; your accusations of racism, and calls for persecution of scientists are abhorrent; you have no credibility and your movement is nothing but a cult; the lives of millions in the developing world are worsened by your anti-scientific crusade "