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from Andy Rees, the WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all,
Welcome to WW44, bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue.
And, happily, it's another great week, full of Setbacks to the GM lobby. The FSE results have echoed nicely through the Sunday papers, with some commentators observing that the government cannot afford to risk GM commercialisation before the next election. Meanwhile, Britain's biggest farmer, the Co-op, has nailed its colours well and truly to the mast, declaring that it is banning GM from its entire business. We need the other supermarket groups to follow their previous actions to a similar thorough conclusion.
And then there's been more bad news from yet another Government report, this time from English Nature, who deal a massive blow to the case for GM, with news that GM crops will speed up the demise of farmland wildlife, in particular the skylark which is feared might be extinct in Britain in 20 years time. This gives the lie to the Broom's Barn research, which would have us believe that GM was the skylark's saviour.
Abroad, the tenaciousness of New Zealanders has at least been rewarded by the announcement (on the eve of GM commercialisation) of zero contamination thresholds in GM foods and agriculture. Let's hope they stick to it. And in Switzerland, GM opponents have forced a referendum on a five-year ban on GM.
And lastly, news from me. This will be my last Weekly Watch, sadly. I am taking more time to complete the book I am currently writing. The working title is 'The Great Food and Farming Scandal: The Agriculture Crisis in a Nutshell' - a concise, but thorough, overview of the debacle of modern farming, and the much needed solution - organic agriculture as national and international policy. I am hoping for publication in another 12-18 months. Anyway, thanks to all of you who sent such positive feedback to me. You will be left in Claire's highly capable hands; she is taking over my post.
Keep up the good work one and all!
Best wishes,
Andy <[email protected]>
www.ngin.org.uk
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WEEKLY WATCH number 44 - CONTENTS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM INDUSTRY
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
TOPIC OF THE WEEK - Media comment on the FSE results
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK - Devinder Sharma on Bill Gates' ill-informed donation for biofortification
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
FACTS OF THE WEEK
LIES FROM THE GM LOBBY
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM INDUSTRY
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GOVERNMENT'S WILDLIFE EXPERTS WARN AGAINST GM DAMAGE:
Tony Blair's chief wildlife advisers have dealt another massive blow to the case for GM crops, warning that the technology will 'seriously degrade' swaths of countryside. In a damning report, English Nature also warns that the use of GM oilseed rape and sugar beet would speed up the [already massive] loss of farmland birds. Replacing conventional oilseed rape with GM varieties would be similarly disastrous, as the crop is Britain's most important for providing feed for birds, producing up to 30 times more sustenance than the average cereal field. Fears are mounting that species such as the skylark could be extinct in 20 years if GM farming goes ahead. Populations in areas like the east of England, which has a large concentration of oilseed rape [and already much diminished birdlife, as a result of intensive farming], are at particular risk. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), with more than a million members, is exploring the prospect of legal action and a massive lobbying campaign, if GM crops are approved. 'This is a big deal for the credibility of the Government's environmental agenda as well as a big deal for farmland birds,' said Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB's director of conservation. Influential opposition can also be found from Britain's biggest landowner - the National Trust - which is balloting its three million members on whether a temporary ban on GM should be introduced until environmental concerns are investigated further.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,1066323,00.html
BRITAIN'S BIGGEST FARMER GOES GM-FREE:
The Co-op - which is Britain's biggest farmer and sells £5bn worth of food annually - has announced that it is banning GM food and ingredients throughout its entire business. The company, which owns farms, supermarkets and a bank, has said it has taken the decision as a result of a survey of its customers. And it is banning GM from its entire business after four-fifths of Co-op customers surveyed said they would not knowingly buy food containing GM ingredients. Animals on its 85,000 acres of farms will not be given GM feed. It will also refuse to grow GM crops even if the government insists it is safe. The group's move is likely to put pressure on other supermarkets to eliminate GM ingredients from their food. Tesco - the UK's biggest supermarket chain - already says it will no longer sell meat from animals raised on GM feeds. "On the strength of current scientific knowledge and the overwhelming opposition of our members, the Co-op is saying no to commercial growing of GM crops in the UK. And we would urge other consumer-led businesses to follow this precautionary approach. Too little is still understood about this technology and how it would impact on our environment in future generations," said Martin Beaumont, chief executive of the Co-operative Group.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3209424.stm
SEE CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
BRITISH GOVERNMENT LIKELY TO POSTPONE GM COMMERCIALISATION:
Britain is likely to have to wait several years before GM crops are grown commercially, if at all, because of the high political risk, analysts said this week. Political pollster Peter Kellner told Reuters: "The government will play safe on this until after the next election." Michael Meacher told Reuters: "Blair has lost public confidence. To go ahead with GMs in the face of all the science would be an absolutely needless own goal. .It would be explosive if they go ahead with GM crops. .Blair has already done a huge favour for Bush on Iraq and paid heavily for it. His political instincts will stop him doing Bush another big favour, especially as it is by no means clear that he is guaranteed re-election next year."
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=3646507§ion=news
SCIENTISTS QUIT UK AMID PURPORTED GM ATTACKS:
Having failed with the public debate, and been undermined by the findings of the Farm Scale Evaluations, the pro-GM lobby is desperately trying to win support via vague and dubious claims of intimidation for which no actual evidence has been produced. It is, of course, particularly ironic that it is members of a pro-science (Sense about Science) network which has refused to condemn acts of terrorism (even opposing the peace process in Northern Ireland), and has acted as a public apologist for war crimes and even genocide, who are highlighting the dangers of GM crop protests.
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