Front Groups

Consumer-Based Front Groups

These front groups position themselves as representing the interests of the general public. While some do have consumer “members,” the campaigns are driven by corporate donors, and the actual public membership is usually quite small. In 2012, the California chapter of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, which is funded by big business, launched a campaign against the state’s genetically modified food labeling ballot initiative. While Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse maintained that it was working on behalf of concerned California citizens, the group was funded in part by Monsanto, the country’s largest producer of genetically modified seeds, among other companies.

[Page 687]Coalitional Front Groups

Other front groups frame their constituents as a broad coalition, positioning their corporate supporters as just one group within a diverse base of stakeholders. But despite saying they represent a variety of perspectives, many of these coalition-based front groups speak on behalf of narrow corporate interests. For example, the Alliance to Feed the Future, which was founded in 2011, claims to be composed of professional groups and societies (e.g., health professionals and academics), universities, government agencies, communications, and advocacy groups. But many of its members are in fact limited to food industry trade groups and the makers of agricultural chemicals and food additives, such as the Calorie Control Council (which represents fat substitute and artificial sugar manufacturers), the National Frozen Pizza Institute, and the Association of Dressings and Sauces.

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