Stop the Crop for a sustainable GM-free future

Mute Schimpf

28 March 2013

"GM isn't the answer to our food problems," blogs Mute Schimpf from Friends of the Earth Europe as a new campaign to stop a new wave of GM crops being approved is launched.

Last week a young activist asked me why politicians don't get the facts right on genetically-modified crops (or GMOs). "Why do governments push for GMOs in our fields?" she asked. It is a valid question.

If facts were the basis of the debate, we could have abandoned campaigning against GM crops years ago. But there's growing evidence that GM increases corporate control of the food chain, increases pesticide use, serious consumer concerns, and contaminates other crops.

In truth, GM crops are unnecessary, unwanted, and do not solve any of our major food problems. Governments' obsession with GM is harming our environment and blocking much-needed reforms of our food and farming systems. And there's little hope that technological advances will overcome any of these problems in the future.

But despite the facts, the European Union is right now considering allowing more GM crops to be grown in Europe.

So we need to continue to repeat the facts to regional, national and European politicians. That's why we have just launched our new Stop the Crop campaign, which aims to do some myth busting on GM crops.

Here are four reasons why GM crops are a bad idea.

1. Lack of demand

It is nearly impossible to sell GMOs as food. In Europe, foods containing GM ingredients have to be labelled and consumers have rejected them. For this reason, all the leading European supermarkets and food companies phased out products containing GM ingredients more than 10 years ago. Even in Spain, the only European country with significant cultivation of GM crops, harvested GM maize is only used as feed for animals.

2. Lack of innovative potential

After more than 20 years of research - funded by taxpayers' money - the biotech industry has only managed to develop herbicide-resistant or insect-killing crops. BASF´s Amflora GM potato was an economic disaster from the very beginning and was withdrawn within 2 years, marking the company's exit from Europe.

3. Ongoing contamination

The costs of keeping seeds, crop and foods separate from GM varieties to avoid contamination is borne by non-GM producers. This is profoundly unfair - essentially placing the economic burden on the victim, not the polluter. To add insult to injury, many victims have been sued for breach of biotech companies' patent rights.

4. GM crops do not tackle hunger or poverty

Industry promises about the ability of GM crops to tackle the world's growing social problems are myth: there is still not a single commercial GM crop with increased yield or salt-tolerance, enhanced nutrition or other 'beneficial' traits. And GM crops are confined to a handful of countries with highly industrialised agriculture.

I'm proud that for more than 15 years the GMO-free movement has successfully blocked new GM crops from being grown on British or other European fields. But now that the European Union is considering opening Europe's doors to new GM crop cultivation, and we need your support again.

What can you do?

• Visit Stop the Crop and join and share our campaign on Facebook to help us put the facts straight on GM crops
• You can also support Friends of the Earth's campaign to keep GM out of supermarket meat, eggs, and dairy.

Mute Schimpf, Friends of the Earth Europe