British won't insure GM crops

[Guest guest]

The general public in the U.K. is deeply opposed to genetically

modified crops, and now British farmers have yet another reason not

to grow them: No one will insure them. A study by the agricultural

organization Farm found that none of Britain's five major insurance

underwriters would be willing to insure farms that were growing (or

thinking about growing) GM crops. Nor would they insure non-GM

farmers trying to protect themselves against crop contamination. All

the companies said too little was known about the long-term effects

of GM crops on human and environmental health. Comparing the crops

to the likes of asbestos and Thalidomide (the drug that caused gross

birth defects in babies), one company said, "There is a real feeling

that GM could come back and bite you in five years."

 

straight to the source: London Guardian, Sally Bolton, 07 Oct 2003

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1592