Feature story - 5 June, 2003
Activists have quarantined a government-run farm in Canada to expose the risks of Monsanto's genetically engineered wheat. The approval of GE wheat would not only a potential environmental disaster but will clearly be a commercial disaster for North American farmers.
Activst helps quarantine a government-run farm in Canada to expose the risks of Monsanto's genetically engineered wheat.
The activists swooped on a research farm, locking the front doors of the building and sealed the site with biohazard quarantine signs.
The introduction of GE wheat would bring little or no benefit for farmers, while it would cause significant ecological and economical disruption. Industry's promises of increased yields, decreased pesticide use and overall economic gains haven't materialised in other GE crops, and it's unlikely that they will do for this crop. Instead, many farmers growing already commercialised Roundup Ready crops faced yield losses, increased costs from problems with herbicide resistant weeds and became increasingly dependent on toxic chemicals.
Because wheat is grown on such a vast scale globally, any adverse impacts could be enormous. Thus, the environmental release and the commercial production of GE wheat for food should be prevented.