Fears that the Government is considering giving permission to grow GM crops in Britain in the wake of rising food prices around the world has been condemned by Friends of the Earth.
The environment group accuses ministers of falling for the GM industry's hype and ignoring its damaging track record. The move comes after the Environment Minister, Phil Woolas, was reported to have been involved in talks with the GM industry's lobby group. In the UK, a national GM debate concluded that 85 per cent of the public did not want GM crops grown in this country and 95 per cent rejected Government proposals on weak rules for growing GM crops in England.
The environment group accuses ministers of falling for the GM industry's hype and ignoring its damaging track record. The move comes after the Environment Minister, Phil Woolas, was reported to have been involved in talks with the GM industry's lobby group. In the UK, a national GM debate concluded that 85 per cent of the public did not want GM crops grown in this country and 95 per cent rejected Government proposals on weak rules for growing GM crops in England.
Also, Government-sponsored farm scale trials of GM crops found that two out of three GM crops grown were more damaging to farmland wildlife than growing conventional equivalents. Last week the Government signed up to the UN International Agriculture Assessment, which saw no clear role for GM crops in tackling global food needs.Friends of the Earth's GM Campaigner, Clare Oxborrow, said: The Government has been seriously misled if it thinks that GM crops are going to help tackle the food crisis - GM crops do not increase yields or tackle hunger and poverty. In the UK, the public have rejected GM food and extensive trials have showed that GM crops are more damaging for farmland wildlife than their conventional equivalents.
Instead of helping the GM industry to use the food crisis for financial gain, the Government should be encouraging a radical shift towards sustainable farming systems that genuinely benefit local farmers, communities and the environment worldwide.”
