Feature story - February 26, 2004
Planting genetically modified (GM) crops is a risk that isn't wanted or needed anywhere in the world. The general public in the UK and even the UK Government's own scientists and economists have all said no to GM.
Greenpeace removing genetically engineered maize from trial farm.
Yet leaked documents prove that the UK Government is about to
give the green light to GM maize.
Cabinet meeting minutes leaked to the BBC suggest the go-ahead
for the commercialisation of GM crops is imminent - despite
Government claims that a decision is yet to be made.
The minutes rightly predict that there will be opposition the
decision, which is contrary to public, scientific and economic
opinion.
The Government wants to commercialise GM maize because the
recent farm-scale trials appeared to show how good GM maize was for
the environment. However, GM maize only passed these tests because
its impact on wildlife was compared to conventional maize, which
uses a weed killer so toxic it has now been banned throughout
Europe.
If GM maize is grown in the UK it will be used to feed the dairy
cows which produce milk. So unless UK residents buy organic from
now on, the milk from supermarkets like Sainsbury's will come from
cows fed on GM animal feed. This GM maize - thousands of tonnes of
it every month - is currently imported from the US. Recent research
has shown just how damaging growing GM is for the US environment,
so why would anyone want it in the UK or anywhere else in the
world?
We believe the commercial growing of GM crops in the UK would be
a disaster for farming and the countryside because there are no
rules in place to stop GM contaminating organic and non-GM crops.
We know that GM crops are risky and at the moment there is no legal
protection for UK farmers from the damage they cause. If something
goes wrong, the GM companies will get off scott free while the tax
payer foots the bill.
More information
Visit Greenpeace UK
to find out the latest updates.