Why doesnt Monsanto and the GMA create an open dialogue with the organizations so heavily against them to help clear the air? Like a Reddit QA discussion. In several documentaries against Monsanto it appears Monsanto avoids interviews. It would make Monsanto look much better if they were more open and talkative, instead of hiding in the shadows and hiding behind a slew of highpaid lawyers and lobbiests. That would kill a lot of negativity against them, as well. Much thanks.

Expert response from Janice Person

Online Engagement Lead, Bayer Crop Science

Wednesday, 02/09/2015 12:08

This is the kind of question that has prompted a lot of introspection at Monsanto in the past two years; more importantly, it is the kind of prompt that has led us to act differently. 

If you don’t mind, I’ll start with the perception that we avoid interviews, etc. Monsanto is an agricultural company – we sell seed, other tools and provide services to farmers. Until a couple of years ago, we were focused on communicating with the farmers who are our customers and on the company’s investors. We were aloof when it came to engaging in the broader conversation about food. 

While we can’t make up for missed opportunities, we’ve been participating in the dialogue  more routinely over the past two years, both as a company and as individuals, even showing up in places like The Doctors and NBC Nightly News.  Most recently, in July, we opened our door and hosted journalists as a part of a National Press Foundation tour. 

Our engagement hasn’t been limited to media though.  We’ve also been showing up and engaging through the following activities:

• Reddit AMA – Since you specifically wanted to know about open dialogue with Reddit, I thought you may be interested in seeing this one that one of my colleagues did this summer. Fred Perlak is one of the scientists who helped develop GMOs in the early days of the technology. His AMA let people ask a Monsanto scientist anything. More recently, Fred was on the Inquiring Minds podcast talking about Monsanto. 
• Hosting Visitors – Since you mentioned the openness side of things, I want you to know we have hosted thousands of guests in St. Louis over the past year – including Vice reporters with their cameras.  One of the most notable guests we hosted this spring may have been Bill Nye who’s talked about it recently on StarTalkRadio GMOs Part 1 and GMOs Part 2. With my job, I recently hosted a group of bloggers at one of our sites; you can read about a fitness blogger’s experience. 
• Outreach – Our chief technology officer – Robb Fraley – has been heavily involved in engaging in the broader conversation writing articles on LinkedIn and the Huffington Post. He also participated in the Intelligence2 Debate on GMOs. We also have been at events like SXSW Eco where our honey bee health lead joined others in talking about what’s happening with pollinators and the critical role they play.  My colleague Vance Crowe participated in a “Why does everyone hate Monsanto?” podcast with League of Nerds, and another colleague Larry Gilbertson participated in a live session with the Boston Skeptics Forum.
• Conversation Site – We have created a website that includes an area where the public can get questions answered. The conversation section of discover.monsanto.com has fielded hundreds of questions and has had millions of visits as people seek to understand our business.

Those are just a few of the things we have happening and we have been actively engaging in various platforms & events to help others get to know us. If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them.