GM crops only sold by force and subterfuge

[Guest guest]

GMW: GM crops only sold by force and subterfuge

" GM WATCH " <info

Tue, 31 May 2005 09:35:29 +0100

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

------

" Whether globally or domestically, genetically modified crops can be

sold only by force, for example, obstructing the Biosafety Protocol and

mounting WTO challenges, or subterfuge, refusing mandatory labelling. " -

Dr E. Ann Clark, agricultural scientist, the University of Guelph,

Canada

------

Guelph Mercury, May 30, 2005

via Agnet

 

E. Ann Clark, RR 5, Guelph, writes regarding, 'Most farmers embrace

biotechnology' (Guelph Mercury, May 18) to say that the letter writer

from

AgCare expresses the dogmatic view that genetically modified crops

benefit Canadian farmers through everything from reduced biocide use to

reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Not a single Canadian jurisdiction -- no provincial or federal agency

-- has yet published a survey of the performance of genetically modified

crops. The

United States Department of Agriculture, which does survey American

farmers, has been unable to show that genetically modified crops have

fulfilled even

one of the many promises made to legislators, farmers, and society --

higher yield, lower biocide use or saving the environment.

 

At best, when objectively analyzed, genetically modified crops are a

wash out. Independent analysts in both the U.S. and Canada have shown

that the

primary, if not sole beneficiary, of genetically modified crops are the

corporations which sell the seed, and the groups they support.

 

Some 99 per cent of all the genetically modified land on the planet is

sown to just four crops -- corn, soy, canola, and cotton, grown in just

six

countries -- U.S., Argentina, Canada, Brazil, China, South Africa, and

involving just 2 genetically modified traits -- herbicide tolerance or

Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) which causes every cell in the plant to

produce its own pesticide, or both.

 

If genetically modified crops actually offered all the advantages

claimed by the letter writer, you'd think leaders of the other 250

countries

on the

planet would want their farmers to share in the same benefits. But they

don't, and have resisted the forcible imposition of genetically

modified

grain in the world market.

 

Whether globally or domestically, genetically modified crops can be

sold only by force, for example, obstructing the Biosafety Protocol and

mounting WTO challenges, or subterfuge, refusing mandatory labelling.

 

 

----------------------