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The truth about 'GRACE'- It's one woman's projectBy Cheryl Stubbendieck Nebraska Farm Bureau vice president/public relations The GRACE Factory Farm Project announced in September that it's setting up a regional office in Lincoln, with former Sierra Club organizer Laura Krebsbach serving as its consultant. Krebsbach is also affiliated with the Great Plains Environmental Law Center in Omaha and has been active in opposing livestock expansion in Nebraska. GRACE isn't a household name in Nebraska, but one of its projects is very well-known on the Internet. It's "The Meatrix," a flash animation film parody of "The Matrix," a futuristic theatrical movie. "The Meatrix" purported to bring the "truth" about "factory farming" to light. This "truth" misrepresents modern-day agriculture, animal health and well-being, human health, food safety and the environment. "The Meatrix" is targeted to the next generation of consumers, a majority of whom have had little opportunity to learn about contemporary agriculture. "GRACE" is an acronym for the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, and the Factory Farm Project is just one of its endeavors. GRACE represents itself as a grassroots organization fighting the evils of modern agriculture and nuclear weapons. But the truth about GRACE is that it is the project of one wealthy woman living in New York City. To learn more about GRACE, Nebraska Farm Bureau "followed the money" behind the organization, by examining its recent tax returns. It was founded in 1996 by New Yorker Helaine Heilbrunn Lerner, who serves as its chair and fully funds the $66 million Tamarind Foundation, formerly the Helaine Heilbrunn Lerner Foundation. In 2004, more than 99 percent of contributions to GRACE, $2,626,807, came from the Tamarind Foundation. GRACE in turn provided $50,000 to the Great Plains Environmental Law Center in Omaha. Tamarind contributions to GRACE totaled more than $9.2 million between 2002 and 2004. Alice Slater is the president of GRACE and of the Grace Policy Institute, which works on issues of nuclear power and the environment. In July 2005, Slater was the principal spokesperson for a coalition of 70 organizations led by GRACE, and including the Great Plains Environmental Law Center, which urged local public broadcasting stations not to air "America's Heartland," the joint American Farm Bureau-Monsanto TV series which showcases today's agriculture and the good care farmers and ranchers give to livestock and the environment. As a regional consultant for GRACE, Laura Krebsbach may be less visible on Nebraska livestock projects than she has been in the past. But local communities and public bodies need to understand what she truly represents--a New Yorker who wants to determine how Nebraska produces livestock. Date: 10/25/06
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