If we've been "banished from paradise", then it was without our consent, circa 1996 - when the first GM crop was commercialised.

for more on the speech including links to the full text see: http://www.planorganic.com/news&comment.htm

some relevant quotes:

"We have been banished from paradise. The idea of a zero per cent threshold was no doubt possible in the Garden of Eden, but not in the real world," Dr Franz  Fischler. And when it comes to setting acceptable thresholds for the levels of GMOs in organic and conventional products, the Commissioner said that Europe must take guidance from scientists, rather than politicians. (see article below)

"To date, there is not a single human-subject study that demonstrates the safety of GM food, and the Mexican experience in which local varieties of maize were contaminated speaks to the need for caution. This whole affair isn't about science, though. The GM lobby know better than most that control over the food system is all about politics." - Dr Peter Rosset http://ngin.tripod.com/forcefeed.htm

"The hope of the industry is that over time the market is so flooded [with GMOs] that there's nothing you can do about it. You just sort of surrender." - Don Westfall, biotech industry consultant and vice-president of Promar International, Toronto Star, January 9 2001 http://ngin.tripod.com/forcefeed.htm

"There is absolutely no justification to produce genetically modified food except the profit motive and the domination of the multinational corporations." - U.N. human rights envoy and special investigator on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, U.N. food envoy questions safety of gene crops (Reuters, 15 Oct 2002) http://ngin.tripod.com/forcefeed.htm

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GM free food is a Garden of Eden fantasy, says Fischler
Eupolitix.com: Based on information from press sources
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:21489

Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler has warned delegates at a conference on organic farming that food which is completely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a thing of the past.  And when it comes to setting acceptable thresholds for the levels of GMOs in organic and conventional products, the Commissioner said that Europe must take guidance from scientists, rather than politicians.

'We have been banished from paradise. The idea of a zero per cent threshold was no doubt possible in the Garden of Eden, but not in the real world,' said Dr Fischler.

His views were echoed at the conference by a leading expert from the Danish government's institute of agricultural sciences. Birte Boelt, head of research within the institute's department of plant biology, said: 'Zero tolerance is not possible.'

Despite advocating isolation distances between GM, organic and conventional farms, as well as the careful cleaning of farm equipment, Dr Boelt warned: 'Even with the greatest care mistakes will happen.'

'The risk of GM contamination will grow over time,' she added.

Dr Fischler announced that the Commission intends to take steps to increase organic food consumption within the EU. Currently, around three per cent of all food consumed is produced organically, but he believes this figure could be as high as 15 per cent. The Commission hopes to produce an action plan on organic food in the coming months.

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"We are confronted with the most powerful technology the world has ever known, and it is being rapidly deployed with almost no thought whatsoever to its consequences." - Dr Suzanne Wuerthele, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxicologist

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