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April 28, 2010GE-Free Future Tour - Emma, part 2
Emma Stoner has been the crew photographer on the GE-Free Future Tour, his entry is about her experience.
We arrived in Spain, the 'heart of GE in Europe' in the blaze of a Spanish sunset. It was nearing the end of the road for us, only 2 stops in Spain after two and a half weeks on the road. We were all tired but excited to have taken the bus so far and into a country where GE is so predominant. Spain produces 80% of all GMO in Europe and is home to 76,000 hectares of land used for the cultivation of GE crops. Our visit to the Spanish farm was scheduled for the following morning so we checked into our hotel to catch up on some sleep.
12/04/2010 Greenpeace Staff in Spain
GE Free Future - Thailand
Greenpeace Eco-farm to instill rice-pride amongst Thai youngsters
Thailand's first ecological rice farming camp for kids has been launched by Greenpeace in an organic rice farm in Ratchaburi as part of a project to demonstrate sustainable agriculture solutions and to educate and inspire the youth to value healthy food, land and community through experiences in ecological farming.
07/03/2009 A child gets ready to plant a rice seedling in a bid to create the first ever art on a rice field in Thailand. The 10-rai rice field in Ratchaburi province will grow into a beautiful art in the next 4 months to show an image of farmers wearing straw hats and using sickle to harvest rice.
GE Free Future - India
Citizens demand arrest of Minister Prithiviraj Chavan, demand BRAI bill be withdrawn
April 20, 2010 New Delhi: The Minister for Science and Technology, Prithviraj Chavan was demanded to be arrested for establishing the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) today at the Anusandhan Bhavan Premises today.
The group of volunteers dropped a 20 feet long banner, which read “Arrest the Minister, Drop the GE food Bill” from atop the minister’s office. They demanded that the Prime Minister stop Chavan from introducing the bill and withdraw it immediately as it will force GE food on to the citizens against their right to safe food.
20/04/2010 Greenpeace volunteers with banners in front of the Anusandhan Bhawan office of the Minister of State, in the Prime Minister’s Office. They are demanding the arrest of Prithiviraj Chavan and withdrawal of the Biotech Regulatory Authority Bill - BRAI 2009. The bill establishes a regulatory system that promotes unpredictable, unsafe GE (genetically engineered) crops.
Rally for a GE-free future
On April 17th, 15,000 people gathered in the center of Madrid, calling the Spanish government which currently holds the EU Presidency for a GE-free future. This event marked the end of our GE-free future bus tour in the EU. Over the last few weeks, the bus, starting from Luxembourg, has passed several EU countries, calling for a moratorium on GE cultivation, and gathering signatures online and offline, as well as organising on Facebook. So far, over half a million people have called for this moratorium, alongside Greenpeace, Avaaz, and several other NGOs.
GE-Free Future Tour - Spain
An entry by GE-free future bus crew member Jonas Hulsens
After the crossing of the Mediterranean Pyrenees iwe arrived in Spain, with 76.000 hectares the only European country that grows Monsanto's GE maize MON810 on a significant scale. The road to Madrid led us through the region of Aragón, 'ground zero' of GE maize cultivation in Europe, where we were welcomed by local volunteers and staff of Greenpeace Spain.
Our first stop was Ecohuerto in Albaro Bajo, a small village in the countryside around the town of Huesca. Since 2003, this organic farm is weekly providing fresh vegetables to 120 families. There you can find peppers, eggplant, tomato, cucumber, cauliflower, courgette, leak, onions. Several varieties are typical for the region, like the gigantic tomate rosa de Huesca and the Fuentes sweet onion.
Greenpeace and Confederation paysanne and Faucheurs Volontaires activists occupy Monsanto seed production facilities in Carcassonne, France. They demand the french authorities to stop import and distribution of GE seed.
GE-Free Future Tour - Danish Environment Minister wants national GE potato ban
"Denmark will introduce a national ban on the BASF GE potato Amflora". This was what the Danish minister of environment, Karen Ellemann, told media and public yesterday when they gathered at a Greenpeace rally to eat GE-free organic potato soup outside the ministry of environment in Copenhagen. The minister added: “a national ban is fully supported by danish parliament” .
Greenpeace, Avaaz and Friends of The Earth where serving patato soup in front of the Danish Ministry of Environment. One of the visitors was Environmental Minister Karen Ellemann, who announced during the event that she wants a national ban on the GE patato Amflora.
Besides handing out soup Greenpeace, Avaaz and Friends of the Earth asked people to sign a petition to stop approvals of GE in EU.
GE-free tour - Field Party in Germany
Activists plant 'good' potatoes
Our 20 acitivists planted 450 kg of the alternative starch potatoes Henriette and Eliane from Avebe on 1,5 ha. The whole field acreage for cultivation of Amflora is 20ha.
It is the only field in Germany where Amflora is intended to be cultivated ( in the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the East - the agriculture minister of this federal state Mr. Backhausen, announced on Monday that he is against the culivation of the Amflora potato).
14/04/2010 Greenpeace activists plant GE (genetically engineered) free potatoes called 'Henriette' and 'Eliane' in a field in Buetow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany in defiance of the planting GE potato 'Amflora' designated in the near future.
GE-Free Future Tour - France, Perpignan
This is a post by Jonas Hulsens, Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner from Belgium who is on our GE-free bus tour of Europe
This morning, standing on the balcony of our hotel room, the peaceful view on the snow-covered slopes of Mount Canigou in early daylight felt like a generous compensation for a rather short night, and so did the warm welcoming by the volunteers of the local Greenpeace group of Perpignan. We met them at the organic market on Place de la République, a rectangular square covered with bars and terraces in the centre of town.
Today, Greenpeace France launched its campaign against the use of GE in the production of French quality cheese. On 46 cheeses with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) – a quality guarantee system – 21 systematically exclude GE from the feed used to raise the animals that produce the milk. 10 others committed to do so in the near future. For the remaining 15 cheeses there's not the slightest guarantee. Greenpeace is pushing all producers of quality cheese to go GE Free.
10/04/2010 The mayor of Perpignan, Monsieur Poujol, signs the bus.
GE-free tour extends to Germany and Sweden
Greenpeace activists close down GE potato depot
12/04/2010 The banner reads, 'EU GE Potato Depot Closed' There is 360 tons of GMO potato Amflora stored waiting for transportation to the Czech republic.
As the GE Free Bus is on its way to Spain, other Greenpeace volunteers become active in other places. In Germany, Greenpeace activists locked the warehouse in Bütow, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, in which the controversial GE potato variety Amflora is being kept. The activists had chained themselves to the entrance alongside a banner bearing the message “EU Depot for Genetically Modified Potatoes Closed”. They wanted to prevent its cultivation by calling the government to act.
“This potato ought to be locked away. Cultivating and distributing Amflora is illegal,” says Martin Hofstetter, an agricultural expert for Greenpeace. “The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Ilse Aigner, must ban the genetically modified crop immediately.”
The activity ended when the police arrested the activists but they found support from Mr. Backhaus, the agriculture and environmental Minister of Mecklenburg Vorpommern who wrote to Angela Merkel that he opposes the GE potato.
GE-Free Future Tour - next stop France
April 09, 2010: Italy
The GE Free Future bus is crossing the beautiful Italian countryside, on its way to the French-Italian border, roughly 750 km to the north. At a quiet pace of 80 km/h it will take us approximately 10 to 12 hours to get there, stops included.
With Emma preparing a selection of her fresh load of photographs, Jean-Jacques editing the video testimonies given in grandmother's kitchen, Fredrick blogging in Swedish and me working on this piece, the bus looks like a mobile office.
Before hitting the highway shortly after noon, the crew paid a visit to Agricoltura Nuova, a fascinating cooperative organic farm in the periphery of Rome.
GE-Free Future Tour - Italy
April 7: Jonas Hulsens joins the GE-Free Team in Italy
Yesterday, on the 6th of April, I arrived in sun-drenched Rome to join the enthusiastic crew of the GE-Free Future bus tour. Travelling from Luxembourg to Madrid via Hungary and Italy, through meetings with politicians, farmers and ordinary citizens, we are asking European governments to take action against GE and impose a moratorium on genetically engineered crops in the EU now.
07/04/2010 The GE bus is in Rome as part of a petition for a GE free Europe.
GE-Free Future Tour - Hungary part 3
April 2: Street activity in Budapest on Good Friday
02/04/2010 Greenpeace GE campaigner for Hungary, Balazs Tomori (R) speaks to the press about the campaign for a GE Free Future.
On Good Friday the GE-Free Future bus was the centre of a street activity in Budapest. By 11:00 am all political parties were invited to come to sign the 5 points to act against Amflora and ban it immediately, go to European Court of Justice against the Barroso led European Commission since they did not respect precautionary principle and the opinion of memberstates and asked to fight for a moratorium on all GE authorizations till it is not reformed, because none of the memberstates of EU are satisfied with it by now. We also asked them to support organic agriculture and save our important state owned seed-banks as they were threatened by financial problems.
GE-Free Future Tour - Hungary part 2
April 1: Visiting Karcag and Kishantos, two strongholds of Hungarian organic farming
We arrived to the outskirts of Karcag, where huge fields sowed with spelt, a popular wheat variety, it was a co-operative of 21 farms, who united to make and trade with organic raw material and products. An organization named Üllőparti Gazdaszövetkezet, whose president was our host, Hubai Imre.
01/04/2010 Hubai Imre Csaba is the president of Ulloparti Gazdaszovetkezet, which is a co-operative of organic farmers near Karcag, eastern Hungary. He is seen here inside the building where the seeds for his products are stocked.
The most interesting part of the heart of the farm was the big stock we could visit with him. Mr. Hubai was really proud of the different and traditional varieties they sow and use. The Yellow Hungarian corn for example. They had their small own mill and kept their products in the cooling-house of the huge stock. Üllőparti organic farmers co-operative have two bio shops in Karcag and Budapest as well, but sell to foreign markets too.
GE-Free Future Tour - Hungary
March 31: How to protect genes and nature? – a good example from "The Puszta"
After a long, exhausting journey, the GE-Free Future bus tour arrived to Hungary in the evening of 29th of March with its’ enthousiastic crew: Emma, Fredrik, Jens, and captain JJ. The two drivers were really proud that the special vehicle made it without any troubles and technical problems and did it quite fast. Especially, because the bus ran through high mountains to arrive to the bottom of Carpathian-basin.
31/03/2010
We arrive to my homeland, Hungary, where we can still find good examples how even a small country can economicly produce quality food and agricultural products instead of chemical intensive agriculture, instead of using GE. I was really motivated to show that to the European audience at the Hungarian bus stop of the tour.
Meeting the "3 Musketeers": Ministers guarding GE Free Luxembourg
26th of March, Luxembourg city
Luxembourg Minister of Health, Mr Bartolomeo signing our GE-Free Future bus.
Early wake up again as today was the press conference day at the agriculture Ministry. Greenpeace Luxembourg has organised its’ press conference in the building of agriculture ministry – first time in their history!! While I was distributing background material to the desk of journalists, publications from Greenpeace International like the Counting the Costs of Genetic Engineering, the first photographers, cameramen and journalists had arrived to the square. Virginie and Lars showed the bus to the ones interested in it, and Jens bought 3 fantastic umbrellas: big and rainbow coloured. Marco Schank, the Development minister and also responsible for the environment arrived first. He is clearly against GE and signed the bus immediately. Romain Schneider, the Agriculture minister and Mars Di Bartolomeo, the Health minister arrived and they all sat in the bus to talk with Greenpeace campaigner Maurice. They liked the interior of the bus a lot and had an almost 10 minute long discussion inside. It seemed to be so long, that we were afraid of having the hard disk of the video camera full. The camera, which was inside the kitchen of the bus, recorded all talks inside the bus for Mr. Barroso and for national governments. Soon after photographers wanted a picture with the Ministers and us holding our GMO FREE EUROPE banner and the bus in the background. They were holding the upper part of the banner, Lars and Virginie (our volunteers) the bottom – showing the good co-operation for gmo-free Luxembourg between ministers and Greenpeace! I was already satisfied but the press conference itself was about to start.
Farmers can feed the world without technical fixes
This is an editorial I wrote together with Friends of the Earth International Chair Nnimmo Bassey. It was first published as an OpEd in the Daily Monitor.
Genetic engineering is a technology in search of a problem; a product in search of a market. Lobbyists from the genetic engineering (GE) industry are offering Africa a stark choice between hunger and GE crops. This is a false choice. Hunger can be avoided without growing and eating GE crops.
Ecological farming which nurtures our soils, cultivates diversity and supplies our families with safe and nutritious food, is the only way to address effectively the serious triple crises of food security, water scarcity and climate change.
Is ecological farming an utopian pipe dream? A luddite manifesto? No. Backed by UNEP and the UN Agriculture Assessment (1), the benefits of ecological farming systems are well known and documented by a substantial and growing band of scientists. They agree on the benefits of supporting local farmers and farm workers to promote systems that minimize dependency on external inputs like artificial pesticides and fertilizers.
The so-called ‘green revolution’ brought about an age in which the massive use of fertilizers and pesticides and ‘modified’ seeds have destroyed soils, put small farmers out of business and concentrated power over our food production into a handful of agro-multinationals. It has reduced diversity and increased vulnerability to threats such as climate change.
Now the same agro-multinationals want to promote their latest ‘technofix’ product, genetically engineered crops.
GE-Free Future Tour - Afternoon in Luxembourg
25 March: Special "sight"-seeing
The GE-bus driving through the European countryside
You could think we were collecting signatures, photos and videos all the time and had no possibility at all to get to the must-see parts of the city. That is not at all true; the must-see part we have seen. Maurice showed us some important places of the capital: the most famous rock of Luxembourg, where they have projected the film The World Accoring to Monsanto last autumn; the monumental building in which on 22th March 2009, the safeguard clause (the ban) on MON810 was made, but we had seen viaducts, castles, rivers and valleys as well. All amazing, I have to say!
GE-Free Future Tour - Morning wake up call in Luxembourg
25 March: First morning in Luxembourg
Maurice proved to be really precise and phoned us not to oversleep. That was smart of him. I do not remember the breakfast very well, maybe because it was the usual intercontinental one You can get in any hotels of Europe, but also because we were briefed by Maurice about the importance of each meeting during breakfast. Everyone thought that Luxemburg is much smaller, but we travelled to so many places today – all the time in a hurry to meet busy allies and members of NOGM, the GMO-Free Luxembourg coalition.
Largest number of directors at one place – at the same time
Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International (Front) and Sarah Burton, Deputy Programme Director (right), board the GE Free Bus showing their support for a GE-Free Europe.
Luckily Greenpeace directors from all over the world met in Luxemburg this year, so we surprised them right after their breakfast and introduced our bus and the purpose of it to them. This was a really good rehearsal as well, to see if the crew can realize what we discussed and practiced last night.
GE FREE FUTURE - The European bus tour - Bob reports from the road
Our GE-free bus is currently on tour around Europe - calling for a moratorium on all genetically engineered produce in the EU in order to protect consumers, farmers and the environment.
The GE Free Bus leaves Greenpeace International Headquarters in Amsterdam
24 March: GMO bus tour leaving Amsterdam
Green light to risky GMOs? No way!
It was an early spring afternoon when the Greeenpeace GE FREE FUTURE campaign bus left Amsterdam, saying goodbye to people waving and shouting their best wishes to the 4 crew members of the bus. Many memberstates, farmers and consumers had the hope that the new European Commission is really going to take to the will, choice and worries of citizens, farmers and concerned Memberstates. That they will finally revise the authorization of Genetic engineered (GE) crops as Memberstates asked for it at the end of 2008. It did not. They authorized a GE potato instead with their first decision in an undemocratic way. A potato which could cause antibiotic resistance, so could reduce the efficiency of certain important medicines. A potato which could mean threat to health, environment and to economy. And that is not all - many more GE crops could still to come, which are already waiting for approval.
Bayer punished in order to deter GE field trials
Greenpeace supporters and local farmers are harvesting the black rice variety of organic rice in Ratchaburi. © Greenpeace / Athit Perawongmetha
Last week was a tough one for companies pedaling GE crops across the world. Monsanto admitted their GE cotton is creating resistance in bollworms to the toxins engineered into the cotton, and entered a meeting on agriculture and competition with farmers complaining about their expensive seed. As if admitting your technology is not working isn’t enough, on Monday the third verdict against Bayer for their contamination of US rice supplies was reached in Arkansas, and the jury awarded the farmer over US $ 1 million.
The truth about genetic engineering
Myrto, one of our agriculture campaigners, tells us what's wrong with genetically engineered (GE) crops - and what you can do to stop them.
The other night I had some friends for dinner and I decided to prepare for a starter - my Mum’s favorite recipe: eggplant dip. It is so easy and yummy. You grill the whole eggplant till it burns, you remove the skin, you blend it with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper and serve it with fresh bread. Delicious!! I was explaining to my friends that all ingredients were organic and another reason I chose to cook this recipe was that I was so happy the Indian government recently put a moratorium on the commercialisation of genetically engineered eggplant.
“Why you care about Indian genetically engineered eggplants?” a friend of a friend asked while he was scooping the remnants of the dip. Silence followed...
My friends start smirking as they knew that I have been campaigning on the issue of genetic engineering and sustainable agriculture for the last 10 years - and they were waiting for my my boisterous response. “After all" he added "I read couple of recent articles that GE crops are expanding and will help developing countries to feed themselves.”
Right…(I thought to myself), if you know nothing about the GE issue, these articles sound very convincing…let’s see if I will manage to explain to my guest before serving the second dish of organic baked potatoes - why we should care how the food we eat is grown and if GE crops will help feed the hungry of this planet.
Monsanto admits their technology doesn't work!
Reyes, one of our agriculture campaigners in India, shares her immediate thoughts on this 'first-of-its-kind' admission by Monsanto
This was my Saturday's lyrics to breakfast in sunny Bangalore: Monsanto has decided to tell the truth about something: its technology doesn't work!, reports The Hindu. I'm going to need a second cup of chai to digest this, Monsanto speaking honest!? Indian farmers and scientist have been seeing this in their Bt cotton fields for a few years: pests become resistant to Monsanto's genetically engineered toxins and thus farmers apply huge amounts of pesticides. Monsanto has always denied this, has the recent massive rejection of its Bt brinjal in India woken up its senses?
For years Monsanto has been shouting that the main - read only - benefit of Bt cotton in India (the only genetically engineered crop planted here) was the reduction in pesticide use. Well, it seems they have just admitted this is not true. Pink bollworm, a serious pest for cotton farmers in India, is now resistant to the toxin in Bt cotton. Meaning that this bug is now sort of a super-pest that farmers will have to work harder and harder to avoid.
What is Monsanto's solution to this? Maybe you have guessed it: use Monsanto's next weapon – same technology - Bt cotton 2.0. With double the amount of toxins (and almost double the price of non-Bt seeds). Hmmm? I need another cup of chai! This is looking too much like an arms-race, which due to rapid pest evolution of resistance could reach a battle of infinite proportions... followed closely by Monsanto's profits, of course. Indigestible! -my stomach shouts-, because along with Monsanto's profits from selling their special seeds I see also the struggle of debt and the threats to the livelihoods of the many farmers I've met.
What's up with organic cotton?
Organic cotton farmers in India
Reyes, a scientist working on our sustainable agriculture campaign, explains the latest controversy surrounding organic cotton in India:
Life is hard for the thousands of organic cotton farmers in India, but it's much harder for the millions of genetically engineered (GE) cotton farmers in the country. These farmers in India continue to amount huge debts in order to afford the expensive GE seeds and the chemicals that come with them. And as we travel along the cotton growing regions of Andhra Pradesh, we also find many organic cotton farmers who rely on cheap, locally available resources - instead of GE seeds and chemicals - making a better living with less debt.
The recent news about the GE contamination of organic cotton in India highlights a serious situation that is hard for farmers and complex for anyone else to grasp fully. The genetic contamination could come from many sources: from illegal or ‘fake’ GE seeds to negligence during the processing of the cotton. People in the cotton fields of Andhra Pradesh believe this contamination happens far away from the farm - when middlemen deceptively sell the abundant GE cotton at the premium rates paid for organic cotton. It is impossible to point to one single culprit. And there are thousands of committed organic farmers growing top quality organic cotton in India that are now at risk.
Seed and agrochemicals shop in Andhra Pradesh, India. Indian farm shops sell only GE cotton seeds. © Greenpeace/ Peter Canton
We're not backing down on genetic engineering
Not many things are certain but you can be sure the agri-chemical industry likes to distort the truth about genetically engineered (GE) crops. We're not surprised that they're up to their old tricks again. Back in November our Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, was interviewed by German magazine Der Spiegel, which included the following question and answer (our translation from German):
Der Spiegel:
"Genetic technology has come forth with Golden rice, which can provide undernourished children with vitamin A and protect them from blindness. What would an African head of Greenpeace have against this?"
Kumi's response was:
"I thought about this matter for a whole weekend. I don't have a scientific background and for this reason I'd like to have another look at all of our scientific positions. We must be certain that we are not passing up any new, good developments."
Several websites connected to the GE industry are now reporting that Mr Naidoo said the following:
"In view of developments like Golden Rice, Greenpeace must reconsider its position with regard to GMOs. We must make sure not to dismiss new and important developments."
Adding insult to injury they even used headlines like Greenpeace Backing Down on GMOs".
And despite the fact that there was another article in Der Spiegel clarifiying our position on GE - the story is still showing up on a few web sites and confusing a lot of people.
To be completely clear - we remain firmly in opposition to genetically engineered (GE) crops. These crops can inter-breed with closely related plants thereby contaminating non GE crops and environments in unforeseeable and uncontrollable ways. The release of GE crops into the environment is “genetic pollution” and as such a major threat both to the environment and to the livelihood of farmers globally.
US$ 2 million verdict against Bayer for genetic contamination
Contamination of normal plants by GE (genetically engineered) plants is something we’ve been shouting about for years at Greenpeace. In 2006 we released a report that showed that the “accidental” release of GE rice by Bayer into the US rice supply led to global costs of between US$ 741 million and US$ 1.285 billion.
Some of those costs are now coming home to roost. A jury in the US ruled on Friday that Bayer is to pay two Missouri farmers over US $ 2 million. Not a huge amount for a multinational company, but this ruling relates to two cases amongst thousands currently pending. If the average remains US $ 1 million per farmer, Bayer could end up dishing out a nine digit figure! Although we are all rather happy here at Greenpeace that liability is landing where it belongs, it is crazy what it takes before those responsible are brought to justice: Does our food supply have to be contaminated and millions of dollars of damage done before legislators wake up to the need to stop this stuff? Genetically Engineered strains should simply not be released into the environment: the scientific understanding of their impacts on ecosystems and human health is inadequate, and once out there, we can't put them back in the lab. Bayer actually admitted during the trial that “[e]ven the best [containment protocols] can’t guarantee perfection” – they were always aware that contamination was possible, and even unavoidable.
This GE rice variety has never been commercially planted, and despite this, an estimated 30% of US rice stocks were contaminated. All we know is that Bayer conducted experimental field trials that were stopped in 2001, and there has been no explanation of how it occurred to this day. The next court cases begin in January with farmers from Arkansas and Mississippi – it looks like Bayer is in for a bumpy ride.
It’s time GE was assigned to the technology scrapheap and the way paved by governments and investors in agriculture for modern ecological farming.
How not to feed the world
Where Monsanto is concerned, it isn’t a good idea to assume good intentions – just ask Percy and Louise Schmeiser in Canada, who spent years locked in legal battles.
The Genetic Engeneering Approval Committee (GEAC) in India should probably have thought about this a bit before approving Bt Brinjal last week – a type of eggplant that produces a pesticide (Bacillus thuringiensis) that is normally sprayed on fields. To say the least, the approval process was botched up:
- The data regarding the effects on human health - received directly from Monsanto’s Indian branch - was insufficiently tested. Three scientists in the GEAC voted against the approval for Bt Brinjal precisely for this reason.
- The only other study on Bt Brinjal (the only one not produced by the company trying to get approval) showed concerns for potential negative effects on human health.
- Civil society and farmers have been increasingly vocal against the lack of transparency of the entire process and pointing out the risks.
Organic farmers delivered your signature against GE rice
Myrto, our EU sustainable agriculture campaigner - tells us about the farmers who delivered 180,000 signatures to the EU Commission this month.
“Picture this: nature is like a piano, the music that nature plays with all its piano keys is the biodiversity, imagine now that GMOs [genetically manipulated organisms] coming into the picture, that piano has now only one key, the Monsanto key!”
With this beautiful metaphor Eduardo Campayo a spanish organic farmer from Spain began to describe his personal experience with GE (genetically engineered) crops - to EU Commissioner of Health Vassiliou, Belgian Minister Lutgen, MEPs and EU journalists.
Eduardo was not alone meeting all these people in Brussels earlier this month. He was joined by Fernando Jose Llobel, the president of the Organic Consumer Association from the same region in Spain (Albacete), Peter Nielsson an organic potato and dairy farmer from Sweden and Samnieng Huadlim a very dynamic 65 year old woman and organic rice farmer from Thailand.
All of them joined us in Brussels to deliver the Greenpeace petition signed by 180,000 people - against the introduction of Bayer’s GE rice into the EU.
I wish everyone who had signed the rice petition could have been there - to meet these amazing organic farmers and hear them speaking their truth from the heart. You would not have any doubt that all of them have made a conscious choice to produce healthy food, work with nature, help their communities. And their message was so clear -- GE crops are putting all this at risk.
Agriculture activists arrested in India
Today activists in India were arrested while demonstrating outside the Indian Parliament during the passing of the Finance bill in Loksabha. The demonstration was to remind the Finance Minister that proposed fertiliser subsidies will not ward off an imminent food crisis.
The present crisis - characterised by degraded soils, yield stagnation and decline in agricultural productivity - is the result of years of indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers, facilitated by government subsidies.
The newly proposed subsidy reform will continue to promote the use of chemical fertilisers and will only intensify the problem in India. The degraded soils need to be rejuvenated and the only way to do this is through ecological farming.
The Finance Minister has expressed concern over declining agricultural productivity as a response to increased fertiliser usage and proposed a shift to a nutrient based subsidy regime instead of the current product pricing regime to ensure balanced usage. But studies show that agricultural yield is unsustainable even with recommended doses and balanced applications of chemical fertilisers. Our recent report, 'Subsidising Food Crisis' refers to a 14-year study in Punjab to highlight the fact that rice yields declined even when the recommended rates of nutrients are applied.
While it is important to give income support to farmers, our office in India is demanding that their government provide support for ecological farming in order to ensure food security.
Monsanto can count on its friends
This is a guest post from Myrto, sustainable agriculture campaigner.
When a giant agri-chemical company with a long track record of environmental crimes and health scandals, such as Monsanto sends a press release praising how wonderful are their products and how the central body of the EU that performs risk assessments (the European Food Safety Authority -EFSA) cleared out their one and only genetically modified maize cultivated in the EU you really need to look behind the smokescreen.
Making the Ministry of Rice
Lucy, one of our video producers at Greenpeace International, made the new video for our campaign against GM rice. Here's the story she's written about how it all came together with photos by Raffa and Tulio, from our video department.
“We need a film..”
“Great, about what?”
“genetically modified rice….”
Why do I never get the orang-utans or the whales?
“..something informative yet engaging…funny, memorable. different..”
“er OK sure …”
Only, I wasn't sure I could pull it off at first - but the sustainable agriculture team here at Greenpeace International knew what they wanted and their passion was infectious. They explained that the EU is considering to allow Bayer’s strain of genetically modified rice, LL62, to be sold in Europe, and ultimately ending up on our dinner plates. If that wasn’t enough, it’s resistant to Glufosinate - a herbicide considered so dangerous to humans that the EU has banned it. But apparently it’s fine to spray this stuff on rice in other countries and then import the genetically engineered rice for EU citizens to eat? I don’t think so! The challenge was set ….now I just needed to figure out what film I was going to make.
Monsanto takes legal action against Germany
Here's another example of how giant agri-chemical corporations are using every means possible to impose their products without respecting the rights of consumers who do not want their risky products.
Following the decision by German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner to ban the cultivation and sale of Monanto's MON 810 genetically modified (GM) maize - Monsanto is now taking legal action to end this German ban in time for the seeds to be sown for this year's harvest.
A Monsanto spokesman said Germany's action to restrict Mon 810 was an "arbitrary ban" that violated EU rules.
This goes to show that Monsanto does not respect scientific warnings for possible impacts on the environment and uncertainties regarding the effects on human health. And it demonstrates that they do not respect governmental decisions aiming to protect citizens and the environment from GM crops under EU law.
Minister Aigner decided to issue the ban as information showed there was a justifiable reason to believe GM maize presented a danger to the environment.
>> Read more about the GMO maize ban in Germany and the science behind it.
UPDATE!
From Bloomberg on May 5th 2009:
Germany’s prohibition on a strain of genetically modified corn made by Monsanto was justified because “a preliminary assessment” showed the plant raises a potential danger, the Braunschweig Administrative Court said in an e-mailed statement today.
Monsanto's unscrupulous attempt to still get this hazardous GE maize on fields has for the moment failed. We're welcoming the court's decision. Here environmental and consumer concerns have been put before the interests of industrial corporations. The decision is also a success for the majority of consumers, who reject GE plants being cultivated.
We are now calling on German Minister, Ilse Aigner, to vote against authorisations of similar GE maize varieties for agricultural cultivation at EU level too. Genetic engineering is not a technology for the future, it is obsolescent. Research findings are showing increasingly often that ecological dangers stem from GE maize.
EU backs Austrian and Hungarian bans on GM crops
"This is what democracy looks like!" is one of the slogans I remember the protesters at the Washington DC coal action chanting yesterday.
The same day Austria's Environment Minister put it just as well, I think, when he told reporters how it felt to beat the European Commission over banning GMO crops: "We have completely prevailed. This is for me as if Austria won the European football championship."
GMO vote tomorrow in Brussels
Europe's food safety checks will be debated tomorrow in an important EU GMO meeting in Brussels.
Citizens, environmentalists, activists and food-lovers have sent thousands of messages to every Environment Minister in Europe -- almost 70,000 in just under a month.
Yesterday we discovered that the UK and Germany are planning to wreck the meeting -- objecting to positive new measures that would strengthen the assessment process. Germany has been among the more food-friendly (and consumer-friendly) countries up to now, so this is a really shameful turn for the worse!
Related: GM-Free Ireland has an interview today on their website with Prof. Patrick Wall, the former head of the European Food Safety Authority.
Action: Write directly to the Ministers for UK and Germany before the GMO meeting on Thursday.
GMO Alert!
Thanks to all of you that have already responded to our call to stop Gentically Modified Organisms in European Union!
You've generated more than 35,000 letters so far, but only 13 days remain before the vote!
EU ministers on the 4th of December will decide whether they will strengthen the EU authorization system to protect our health, our food and our fields from GMOs.
Our latest information from the negotiation table is that a group of a few pro-GMO member-states and the European Commission are blocking the process and there is a risk that nothing meaningful will be agreed on the 4 December.
If you have not sent your message to the EU ministers please do so now! If you HAVE sent a message already, get the word out to your friends.
We need your support to send a strong message to politicians to listen the concerns of European citizens and keep the EU GMO free!
3 weeks to make EU ministers vote against GMOs
European Environment Ministers meet on December 4 to debate what safety checks are needed to assess genetically modified food before it can be cultivated or sold in the EU. Clearly stronger checks are needed, if you read (PDF in English) an explosive new report about fertility rate decline in mice fed with Monsanto GE maize from the Austrian government!
The European Food Safety Authority is like America's Food and Drug Administration. Under the current regime EFSA, like the FDA, runs inadequate checks and often just rubber stamps what agro-chemical industry experts say.
December 4 could be the day we turn it around -- If we can convince Ministers meeting that day to vote for strict controls. You can take action too.
Vatican declares polluting and genetic engineering deadly sins
The Roman Catholic Church has updated and modernized their list of deadly sins (aka "mortal sins"). These are the really really bad ones. If you die with deadly sins unabsolved you're running a high risk of eternal damnation. And believe you me, that is not so good.
The Telegraph's headline, "Recycle or go to Hell, warns Vatican":
Failing to recycle plastic bags could find you spending eternity in Hell, the Vatican said after drawing up a list of seven deadly sins for our times.The seven, which include polluting the environment, were announced by Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, a close ally of the Pope and the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, one of the Roman Curia's main court.
The "sins of yesteryear" - sloth, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and pride - have a "rather individualistic dimension", he told the Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper.The new seven deadly, or mortal, sins are designed to make worshippers realise that their vices have an effect on others as well.
What about swearing? But as sins go I guess that's only venial.
Potatoes, politics and antibiotics
Good article today in the International Herald Tribune about a genetically engineered potato designed to, "yield large quantities of starch suitable for making glossy paper products and for feeding animals". That is important stuff, of course. We don't want animals going hungry, and I'm sure we all know the importance of glossy paper products.
But some scientists are worried that the gene-altered potatoes pose a risk to humans...
It also has aroused concerns that sick people and the elderly could become more vulnerable to disease because there are fears that the potato could trigger resistance to certain antibiotics in humans."The biotechnology industry threatens to set an extremely worrying example if it wins approval for this potato," said Patrice Courvalin, the head of the Antibacterial Agents Unit at the medical research center Institut Pasteur in Paris. "We should keep trying to prevent dissemination of antibiotic resistance rather than to allow products into the food chain that could potentially make a bad situation even worse."
Why should we be concerned about antibiotic resistant genes in potatoes? Troublemakers at the Union of Concerned Scientists explain.
All go for European GM campaigns
It's all go for our European anti Genetically Modified (GM) crops campaigns. Activists in France hung a very clear message from the iconic Arc de Triomphe in Paris today, urging the French government to make the right move and ban GM. A decision expected to take place in the next few days. Meanwhile our team in Romania had a great victory over French supermarket giant Carrefour.
A Greenpeace team removed Snack Attack bread from Carrefour’s flagship store in Bucharest yesterday, because our tests showed it contains GM Soya. Today, the supermarket removed ALL Snack Attack products from their shelves in Romania.
Budweiser "wassup" parody
Put this video on your own site using YouTube:
Sadly, as has already been pointed out, acting is not my strong suit. Making this spoof was both fun and grueling. I actually gained some new respect for professional actors. And as usual, the underlying issue is a serious one. So, join our 'Save the Beer!' campaign by sending an open letter to the head of Budweiser asking, "Wassup with genetically engineered rice in your beer?"
Three times a loser
For the third time, European Environment Ministers have blocked a European Commission (EC) proposal to force member countries to accept the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops on their soil. This time it was Hungary who was in the firing line of the EC and its love affair with GE crops.
The EU Environment Ministers today voted to extent the EC loosing streak on this issue to three straight when they supported Hungary´s right to protect its nature and population from GE crops, in this case a Monsanto maize known as MON810, engineered to contain a toxin and kill pests.
The big question is why after going into the latest round 2-0 down, the EC didn't decide to change their game? If they actually listened to the citzens of Europe, they might have changed their strategy to one of protecting the EU and its member states from GE and actually be on the winning side for a change.
European conventional and organic farmers are already increasingly exposed to contamination by genetically engineered crops, revealed a report published yesterday by Greenpeace and GeneWatch UK, which catalogues a list of contamination incidences around the world.
Lets just hope that after loosing for the third time that they don't embarass themselves by trying to a fourth straight loss.
More Crop Circles in Mexico, Spain and Philippines
© Greenpeace / Gustavo Graf
As you may know, we've been recently been busy creating seasonal crop circles all over the world, to highlight the appearance of GE crops in fields in several countries. Three more appeared in the last few days - in Mexico, Spain and the Philippines.
02 October 2006: Above is a gigantic 60 metre "NO" sign crop circle in a maize field in the state of Estado de Mexico, Central Mexico. We're demanding that the Mexican Government rejects proposals to break a long standing moratorium against the cultivation of genetically Modified Maize in the region.
Interview with the GE Crop Circle Makers
© Greenpeace / Gustavo Graf
Mexico — Some pals of mine from the fortean world have been making crop circles for our GE campaign. In this interview, John Lundberg - who is a professional cropcircle maker - (who knew there was such a thing?) talks about making giant question mark in a maize field in Mexico and working with us.
"For years I'd thought that crop circles would be an ideal medium for promoting Greenpeace's genetic engineering (GE) campaign. The crop circles generate an alien mystique, encouraging people to consider the unknown."
Mexican crop circle asks the question »
Earlier work, in France: GE Maps: Censored by French Court, Republished by Greenpeace International, Featured by BoingBoing »
Circlemakers.org »
GE Maps: Censored by French Court, Republished by Greenpeace International, Featured by BoingBoing
It was always going to be the *perfect* BoingBoing story: Greenpeace France publishes a Google Map showing locations of GE Crop fields. Farmers take Greenpeace to court. French Government orders map and webpage removed, despite the fact that the French Government is in fact obliged under EU law to make the locations of commercial GE sites public.
So the court order tells Greenpeace France to remove the map "from all websites it publishes." Well now, Greenpeace France doesn't publish the Greenpeace International website, does it?
GE cotton killed sheep in India?
This report just in via Indymedia:
There is yet another controversy linked to the genetically modified Bt cotton plant and this time it is the alarming reports of sheep and goat taking ill, even dying after grazing on leftover Bt cotton fields. This is what farmers and shepherds in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh are saying. The central government has reportedly ordered independent toxicology tests on Bt cotton leaves to ascertain the facts.
GE Cotton Kills Sheep and Goats in India
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