For those indoctrinated in Southern hospitality, it wasn't a
surprise that Ken Cook took the Arkansas State University stage
to polite applause. And for those familiar with the
Environmental Working Group's track record, it also wasn't a
surprise his message was seen as unfriendly to Southern
agriculture.  “You may have formed some opinions about our
work,” he said at the 2006 ASU Agribusiness Conference. “And you
may even have concerns about how we project our ideas into the
public debate.”  For agriculture subsidy proponents, this
assertion was a gross understatement. EWG showed up on the
general public's radar screen in 2002 when it set up a database
listing agriculture subsidy recipients. Since then, the Web site
has received millions of hits and raised Cook's profile. Perhaps
most worrisome for many is that heading into the 2007 farm bill
debate Cook has the ear of Congress.  During his ASU
presentation (and in a lengthy interview with Southeast Farm
Press prior to the conference), Cook spoke about EWG's