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Jeffrey Smith is currently the executive director of the Institute for Social Responsibility, an organization he founded in 2003. According to a 2008 Reuters report, Smith’s Institute derives its income, for which he is paid a $24,000 annual salary,<ref></ref> through speakers fees, book and DVD sales and sponsor donations for his advocacy efforts.<ref>, Gillam, Carey, Reuters UK, March 7, 2008.</ref> From 2004-2012 the Institute was listed as the “fictitious” business name for and operated as a project of “The Coordinating Council,”<ref>, Iowa Secretary of State Business Registrations, accessed October 2012.</ref> a registered non-profit organization claiming no income or expenses from 2004-2007 and originally registered in Washington, State by nutraceutical lobbyist and health supplement salesman Craig Winters,<ref>, Natural Products Association of the Northwest press release, October 12, 2012.</ref><ref>, Washington State Department of Revenue, January 10, 1995.</ref> as the umbrella organization for The Campaign to Label Genetically Modified Foods political ballot initiative in that state. Smith is the only listed member and sole employee for this organization. Jeffrey Smith is currently the executive director of the Institute for Social Responsibility, an organization he founded in 2003. According to a 2008 Reuters report, Smith’s Institute derives its income, for which he is paid a $24,000 annual salary,<ref></ref> through speakers fees, book and DVD sales and sponsor donations for his advocacy efforts.<ref>, Gillam, Carey, Reuters UK, March 7, 2008.</ref> From 2004-2012 the Institute was listed as the “fictitious” business name for and operated as a project of “The Coordinating Council,”<ref>, Iowa Secretary of State Business Registrations, accessed October 2012.</ref> a registered non-profit organization claiming no income or expenses from 2004-2007 and originally registered in Washington, State by nutraceutical lobbyist and health supplement salesman Craig Winters,<ref>, Natural Products Association of the Northwest press release, October 12, 2012.</ref><ref>, Washington State Department of Revenue, January 10, 1995.</ref> as the umbrella organization for The Campaign to Label Genetically Modified Foods political ballot initiative in that state. Smith is the only listed member and sole employee for this organization.
The Institute for Social Responsibility was created as a stand-alone tax-exempt, non-profit arm in 2012<ref>, GuideStar, accessed September 2012.</ref> Sponsoring donors listed on his website included: Organic Valley, Joe Mercola, Natural News/Mike Adams, Eden Organic, Nutiva, Nature’s Path Organic, WestSoy, EO, Earth’s Best Organic, New Chapter Organics, Rudis Organic Bakery, Silk, and various other organic and alternative health companies. From 2011-2012 Smith, via the Institute for Responsible Technology, played a key advocacy and coordinating role for a 2012 California ballot initiative seeking to label GMOs.<ref>, Kansas City Star, October 31, 2012.</ref> The Institute for Social Responsibility was created as a stand-alone tax-exempt, non-profit arm in 2012<ref>, GuideStar, accessed September 2012.</ref> Sponsoring donors listed on his website included: Organic Valley, Joe Mercola, Natural News/Mike Adams, Eden Organic, Nutiva, Nature’s Path Organic, WestSoy, EO, Earth’s Best Organic, New Chapter Organics, Rudis Organic Bakery, Silk, and various other organic and alternative health companies. From 2011-2012 Smith, via the Institute for Responsible Technology, played a key advocacy and coordinating role for a ]<ref>, Kansas City Star, October 31, 2012.</ref>


==Criticism== ==Criticism==

Revision as of 14:04, 16 November 2012

Jeffrey M. Smith
File:Jeffrey M Smith.jpgJeffrey M. Smith, dance instructor, activist and author
Born1956
Ottumwa, Iowa, United States
NationalityAmerican
EducationMaharishi Institute
Occupation(s)Dance Instructor, Professional Activist, Author
SpouseAndrea Vardi
Websitehttp://www.swingsmith.com
http://www.seedsofdeception.com

Jeffrey M. Smith (born 1956) is a self-published American author, independent film producer, professional dance instructor and former politician. He is known for his work in transcendental meditation and yogic flying, Lindy Hop swing dance and activism in opposition to GMOs. He has authored several books and made DVDs and a movie on the perceived dangers of genetic engineering and serves on the Genetic Engineering Committee of the Sierra Club Smith ran for the U.S. Congress as a candidate for the Natural Law Party, and is a frequent conference speaker at advocacy, alternative health, organic and natural products conferences. He has appeared on nationally syndicated television programs such as The Dr. Oz Show. Smith has no scientific or medical background.

Career

Natural Law Party political activism

File:Jeff Smith yogic dance.jpg
Jeffrey Smith yogic flying demonstration

Jeffrey Smith, listing his occupation as “teacher” was a frequent donor to the Natural Law Party starting with its founding in 1992.

Jeffrey Smith campaigned in 1996 for the Maharishi Mahesh’s Natural Law Party platform promoting transcendental meditation and yogic flying, taught and practiced at the Maharishi Institute, as a foundation for achieving world peace in politics. At campaign events in Illinois on behalf of Natural Law Party senate candidate Jim Davis, Smith provided demonstrations of yogic flying claiming the acts would “reduce crime and other ills.” Smith claimed. to have done yogic flying demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol, World Bank and United Nations as part of his campaign efforts in support of Natural Law Party candidates and promoting the adoption of teaching transcendental meditation in public schools. At campaign events Smith presented charts he claimed showed mass meditation and yogic flying lowered the crime rate in Washington, D.C., by 21 percent in a demonstration project. Running on a platform promoting transcendental meditation and yogic flying in 1998, Smith was the Natural Law Party candidate for U.S. Congress in Iowa’s First District. Smith received 8 percent of the vote, losing to Republican Jim Leach.

Dance teaching

Jeffrey M. Smith, SwingSmith
Jeffrey and Andrea Smith

With his wife Andrea Vardi, Jeffrey Smith has performed and provided instruction in swing dance under the professional name Swing Smith since 1996 teaching students at the University of Iowa and continues via the group “Lindy Fairfield” today. In 1999 the Smith duo founded Swingphoria, a Lindy Hop performance group, which performed around the Midwest.

Opposition to GMO foods

Smith worked from 1999 – 2001 as the vice president for marketing, communications and business development for the Fairfield, IA-based GMO testing laboratory Genetic-ID. Genetic-ID was founded by John Fagan, a dean and teacher at the Maharishi Institute, with Bill Witherspoon, a Midwest organizer for the Maharishi movement, and Jay B. Marcus, an attorney representing various Maharishi vedic health and organic food business interests. At Genetic-ID Smith traveled around the globe promoting food testing for and labeling of GMOs in food, personally asserting they were dangerous. Smith promoted Genetic-ID services to organic food companies, governments and activists groups

Jeffrey Smith has self-published two books through Yes! Books, starting with Seeds of Deception in 2003.. Yes! Books is co-located with and a project of Jeffrey Smith’s Institute for Social Responsibility where he publishes and sells books, pamphlets and DVDs critical of GMOs.

Jeffrey Smith is currently the executive director of the Institute for Social Responsibility, an organization he founded in 2003. According to a 2008 Reuters report, Smith’s Institute derives its income, for which he is paid a $24,000 annual salary, through speakers fees, book and DVD sales and sponsor donations for his advocacy efforts. From 2004-2012 the Institute was listed as the “fictitious” business name for and operated as a project of “The Coordinating Council,” a registered non-profit organization claiming no income or expenses from 2004-2007 and originally registered in Washington, State by nutraceutical lobbyist and health supplement salesman Craig Winters, as the umbrella organization for The Campaign to Label Genetically Modified Foods political ballot initiative in that state. Smith is the only listed member and sole employee for this organization. The Institute for Social Responsibility was created as a stand-alone tax-exempt, non-profit arm in 2012 Sponsoring donors listed on his website included: Organic Valley, Joe Mercola, Natural News/Mike Adams, Eden Organic, Nutiva, Nature’s Path Organic, WestSoy, EO, Earth’s Best Organic, New Chapter Organics, Rudis Organic Bakery, Silk, and various other organic and alternative health companies. From 2011-2012 Smith, via the Institute for Responsible Technology, played a key advocacy and coordinating role for a 2012 California ballot initiative seeking to label GMOs.

Criticism

Several academics have launched campaigns to dissect and review Jeffrey Smith’s claims and criticize organizations and media outlets who characterize or present Smith as an "expert" source on issues of biotechnology. Other skeptics of Smith’s attacks on genetically modified crops have called his assertions "pseudoscience" and have generally discounted the transcendental meditation and yogic flying bases of his claims due to the lack of quality research and a lack of methodological rigor in Smith's claims.

Personal life

Jeffrey Smith attended school at the Maharishi Institute for Management and has been cited as an expert in yogic flying. He resides in Fairfield, IA with his wife artist, jewelry maker and dance instructor Andrea Vardi.

Bibliography

Books

  • Smith, Jeffrey M (2003). Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating. Fairfield, IA: YES! Books (self published). ISBN 978-0-8144-1622-8.
  • Smith, Jeffrey M (2007). Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods. Fairfield, IA. ISBN 978-0972966528. {{cite book}}: Text "YES! Books (self published)" ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Smith, Jeffrey M (2003). Hard to Swallow: The Dangers of GE Food – An International Expose. Nelson, New Zealand: Craig Potton. ISBN 978-1877333118.

Filmography

  • Smith, Jeffrey M (2012). Genetic Roulette the Movie. Fairfield, IA. ASIN B0096DP4CG. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |studio= ignored (help)
  • Smith, Jeffrey M (2008). Dangers in Kids' Meals and Your Milk on Drugs —Just Say No! a DVD. Fairfield, IA. ASIN 0972966560. {{cite AV media}}: Check |asin= value (help); Unknown parameter |studio= ignored (help)

References

  1. Monsanto petition tells Obama: ‘Cease FDA ties to Monsanto’, Washington Post, January 30, 2012.
  2. Genetically Modified Pt.1, Dr. Oz Show, December 2010.
  3. Entine, John (Oct.19 2012) Forbes.com Malpractice On Dr.Oz: Pop Health Expert Hosts Anti-GM Food Rant; Scientists Push Back "During the show, which was promoted as an “investigation,” Oz provided uncritical time for Jeffrey Smith, an activist with no scientific or medical background"
  4. Fairfield, IA: Political Contributions by Individuals, U.S. Federal Elections Commission reports by City-Data website, accessed 2012.
  5. 'Yogic flying,' third-party candidates promoted, Bush, Bill, The Illinois State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), October 23, 1996.
  6. Fringe Candidate's Gimmick: `Flying' Yogis, Associated Press, October 24, 1996.
  7. IA House Contested, Associated Press, November 2, 1998.
  8. U. Iowa: Is swing dancing coming or going? Depends who you ask, Reinstein, Leah, The daily Iowan (U. Iowa), January 26, 1999.
  9. Lindy Fairfield, Andrea Smith, Facebook Groups, 2012.
  10. About Us: Jeffrey & Andrea Smith, SwingSmith website, accessed October, 2012.
  11. His Holiness Maharish Mahesh Yogi: Thirty Years Around the World, Yogi, Maharishi Mahesh, MVU Press, Netherlands, 1986.
  12. Galaxy of Fire, Latham, Jay, pp. 219-220, Sunstar Publishing LTD, September 2001.
  13. Success from Within: Discovering the Inner State the Creates Fulfillment and Business Success, Marcus, Jay b., MVU Press, Netherlands, 1990.
  14. Speaker warns U. Iowa students against genetic food, Standaert, Mike, The Daily Iowan (U.Iowa), April 21, 1999.
  15. Press Release: Genetic ID's New GMO Tests Can Save U.S. Corn Exports to Japan; Restore Exports to Europe, Smith, Jeffrey Business Wire, March 23, 2000.
  16. Sowing dissent.(Brief Article), Coghlan, Andy, New Scientist, May 27, 2000. who opposed genetically modified foods.
  17. INTERVIEW-GM seed case highlights need for testing, Reuters News, Diderich, Joel, May 31, 2000.
  18. Yes! Books reviews
  19. Yes Books profile, Show me Local, website accessed October 2012.
  20. Institute for Responsible Technology & YES! Books, Academics Review, November 2012.
  21. Note: Smith’s wife Andrea Vardi serves as the media contact for Yes! Books and Smith’s public appearances promoting his books.(OTA will sponsor appearance by Jeffrey Smith, Organic Trade Association press release, September 24, 2003.)
  22. 2010 “Coordinating Council” IRS form 990
  23. U.S. activist circles globe to fight biotech crops, Gillam, Carey, Reuters UK, March 7, 2008.
  24. Coordinating Council Iowa business registration # 315479, Iowa Secretary of State Business Registrations, accessed October 2012.
  25. Natural Products Association Northwest Donates to Washington State GMO Labeling Initiative, Natural Products Association of the Northwest press release, October 12, 2012.
  26. Full Spectrum Health business tax ID #601597337, Washington State Department of Revenue, January 10, 1995.
  27. Institute for Responsible Technology profile, GuideStar, accessed September 2012.
  28. Safety of genetically modified foods is debated in California, Kansas City Star, October 31, 2012.
  29. Jeffrey Smith Profile, Academics Review website, accessed September 2012.
  30. An interview with GMO expert Jeffrey M. Smith, Chico (CA) News Enterprise, September 15, 2011.
  31. Deconstructing Jeffrey Smith: Yogic flyer, dance teacher and GMO expert, Contrary to Popular Belief, October 2, 2012.
  32. "James Randi Educational Foundation — An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural".
  33. Sagan, Carl (1997). The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 16. ISBN 0-345-40946-9.
  35. Krisanaprakornkit, T.; Krisanaprakornkit, W.; Piyavhatkul, N.; Laopaiboon, M. (2006). Krisanaprakornkit, Thawatchai (ed.). "Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1): CD004998. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004998.pub2. PMID 16437509. The small number of studies included in this review do not permit any conclusions to be drawn on the effectiveness of meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. Transcendental meditation is comparable with other kinds of relaxation therapies in reducing anxiety
  36. Ospina MB, Bond K, Karkhaneh M; et al. (2007). "Meditation practices for health: state of the research". Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) (155): 1–263. PMID 17764203. Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  37. Krisanaprakornkit T, Ngamjarus C, Witoonchart C, Piyavhatkul N (2010). Krisanaprakornkit, Thawatchai (ed.). "Meditation therapies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)". Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 6 (6): CD006507. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006507.pub2. PMID 20556767. As a result of the limited number of included studies, the small sample sizes and the high risk of bias{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Additional sources

External links

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