Feeding or Fooling the World?
The 2020 Vision Collective presents an evening on the future of agriculture at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, 7.15pm, 18 April, Lecture Theatre 1
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Reporting Breaking News in the Biotech Food Debate
The DAILY BRIEF for Monday, 16 April, 2001 (( Six Items ))
Archived: http://208.141.36.73/listarchive/index.cfm?list_id=30
(1) Anti-GMO Day,April 17 in Name of the Principle of Precaution (PARIS, 15 Apr (AFP) Translation) - "The ideal would be to definitively from the planet any GMO", quietly declares a French farmer committed for ten years to this combat, which could seem that of the earthen pot against the iron pot (of the agrochemical multinationals). And yet, after the successive businesses of hormone beef, mad cow and foot-and-mouth disease, French public opinion appears ripe to hear a new warning in the name of the principle of precaution concerning genetically modified organisms. By requiring for example rigorous labelling of products likely to contain GMO. The farming world would be the first to be accused if a new health alarm emerged, blaming animal feed or fish, underline farmers who do not belong inevitably to the Farm Confederation of José Bové. Thus, GMO were found in fodder intended for animals sold under the organic label, the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture announced March 11. FAO and WHO, who published on April 12 recommendations concerning the risk of allergic reactions caused by certain GMO to people suffering from food allergies, bring a heavy caution to "anti-GMO" French who are organizing on April 17 a day of action against GMO and the "patenting of life". This world day, launched by the network of country organizations Via Campesina (Country Way), based in Honduras, is relayed in France by a "Collective of 17 April" joining together the Farm Confederation (member of the network), ATTAC, Doctors of the world, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Ecoropa, Chiche and GMO:Dangers. It intends to sensitize the general public to the concerns caused by a technology for which no one, not even the scientists who preach it, can in the long term certify the effects on human health, emphasizes the collective. Debates, forums and consumer information activities are in particular envisaged in several towns in France, in particular in front of big companies selling products containing GMO. A "remarkable deed" must be aimed Tuesday at the scientific interest group Génoplante at Evry which is supported 70% by public... But the largest charge made against GMO by the collective, beyond the potential health danger, is the state of deep dependence in which the agrochemical multinationals place the farmers who use them, especially in developing countries. The seeds of GMO being "sterile", the farmers are "captive" customers, obliged to repurchase their seeds each year with "associated products", knowing that to use a weedkiller or pesticide running on a culture of GMO would destroy it at once, explains the farm Confederation.
(2) Fury, Pro-GM School Magazines, US Giants Advertise inSchools http://www.sundayherald.com/news/newsi.hts?section=News&story_id=15481 Rob Edwards, Environment Editor, The Sunday Herald, Apr 15 2001 MORE than 140,000 glossy brochures sponsored by the US corporate giants of genetic modification such as Monsanto are being pushed into Scotland's schools by Scottish Enterprise, with the enthusiastic backing of the schools watchdog HM Inspectorate of Education. The brochures, which sing the praises of GM technology in medicine and marine science, have provoked widespread protests from teachers, consumer groups and environmentalists. They are suspicious that GM companies are trying to soften up students as part of a campaign to quell mounting public fears about the dangers of genetic engineering. The 'infiltration' of industry into the curriculum worried the Educational Institute of Scotland, the trade union representing teachers. The institute's general secretary, Ronnie Smith, wanted Scottish Enterprise and HM Inspectorate of Education to exercise more critical judgement, and urged teachers to do the same. -
"I think every product of industry that purports to be a curriculum resource should be viewed carefully by teachers before they use it,", he said. "Most commercial organisations do not involve themselves in this area out of a charitable concern to help education." -
Your World - Biotechnology And You is a 16-page full-colour magazine produced in the US by the Biotechnology Institute. The institute was founded two years ago in Pennsylvania to promote public understanding of GM science. It is funded by Monsanto, Novartis, Pfizer, Rhone-Poulenc, Merck, Amgen and the 900-member Bio technology Industry Organisation. -
Up to 20,000 copies of seven editions of Your World are this month being sent to 600 schools and colleges throughout Scotland as a "teacher's resource for biotechnology education". In promoting the magazine, neither Scottish Enterprise nor HM Inspectorate of Education mentioned the fact that it has been sponsored by multinational GM companies. -
Those who represent the interests of parents also expressed alarm. "Pressure is increasing on schools to accept industry-led sponsorship and marketing" observed Martyn Evans, the director of the Scottish Consumer Council. He said that was why, along with the National Consumer Council in London, his organisation was now updating guidelines for schools on industrial sponsorship. "Schools have to be particularly careful in accepting sponsored materials or products", he said. "The biotech companies behind the magazine are using the provision of education as a marketing opportunity to influence pupils." -
However, in the blurb accompanying the magazine, Dr Jack Jackson, HM Inspector of Schools, writes: "Your World is a valuable resource for Scottish Science teachers and should help inform pupils and raise their awareness of the many benefits and issues which surround the development of this exciting new technology." -
The magazines cover genes and medicine, tissue engineering, Aids, the brain, diagnostics, computing and marine bio technology. They are peppered with quotes and profiles of industrialists and....
(3) GM Tobacco, Sales Pitch. "Hope Seen in Tobacco That Heals" Biotech Gamble Attracts Virginia's Anxious Farmers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21360-2001Apr15.html CropTech, a lab in Blacksburg, Va., grows genetically engineered tobacco that is hoped to produce drugs to cure cancer, AIDS, and other diseases some day. (Tracy A. Woodward - The Washington Post, 16 April 2001) By Craig Timberg SOUTH HILL, Va. -- The salesman arrives in this worn-out tobacco town with a laptop and a pitch: He can save Virginia's No. 1 cash crop with the miracle of genetic engineering. Someday soon, he says, tobacco will save lives rather than hasten their end. And if they act now, farmers can own a piece of the action. The salesman is Chris Cook, a transplanted Brit who is chief executive of Tobio, a start-up that plans to grow human proteins in what he calls "new generation tobacco." The proteins, he predicts, will become key ingredients for the next wave of pharmaceuticals fighting everything from cancer to stroke. It's a niche within a niche within a niche of the nation's $149 billion drug industry, years away from possible government approval, not to mention profit. Snake oil? Maybe. But in the audience this night are 24 farmers nervous enough about declining demand for tobacco to brave cold rain for a glimpse of a better future. They are listening. "We believe this is a great opportunity," said Cook, a former farmer who came to the United States in search of opportunity. "We need your help so we can help you." When Cook explains the hook -- that this future will belong to those with faith enough to write personal checks of $2,500 or more for shares of Tobio -- no one flees the room. Nearly every farmer walks away this night with a sign-up sheet and a prospectus. "I think it's worth a shot," said John Manning, who at 43 is one of the younger farmers in the room. "We take big gambles every day farming." This scene is repeating itself dozens of times as Cook works his way across Virginia's beleaguered tobacco belt, a broad southern stretch of the state that has missed the economic boom of the past decade. As Northern Virginia became the front line of the Internet revolution, Southside and Southwest Virginians watched mills and factories close. Demand for once-mighty tobacco sagged so badly that government regulators nearly halved quotas for the crop. Cook and other entrepreneurs are trying to convert the desperation of these farmers into fuel for innovation. While venture capitalists are....
(4) Philippines: ACROSS THE NATION CORDILLERA FARMERS RAISE FEARS ON 'SUICIDE SEEDS' (Philippine Daily Inquirer 16 April) http://208.141.36.73/listarchive/index.cfm?list_id=30 (4/16 post) BAGUIO CITY-Farmers in the Cordillera have raised fears that genetically engineered rice seeds introduced by the government in the region will displace indigenous rice seeds used by farmers throughout the centuries.
A study conducted by the Cordillera Women's Education and Resource Center said farmers in traditional Cordillera farming communities had labeled the genetically engineered rice varieties as "suicide seeds" because of their effects on their crop production. The study said the seeds-Rc-54 and IR 64-have caused low productivity in Cordillera farmlands after these were sed as alternatives for the indigenous variety of rice seeds.
The Rc-54 variety became popular to local farmers because it grew faster than the native variety when it was introduced to farmers of Tinglayan, Kalinga. Used as a second crop, this variety, according to farmers, could also be harvested sooner than the native varieties. Local farmers, however, said the Rc-54 variety needs more chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The CWERC study said farmers pointed to the IR 64 variety as the culprit in the decreasing yield of their farms. "Some said that after three croppings, the volume of rice harvested was no longer as much as the volume (the farmers) were able to harvest during the first cropping," the study said. The study said local farmers....
(6) EPA's SAB Board, Public Comments on R&D, May Meeting, ORD Plans & Budget. http://208.141.36.73/listarchive/index.cfm?list_id=30 (4/16 posting) EPA's The Science Advisory Board (SAB) has been asked to review and comment on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 Presidential Budget proposed for EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the overall Science and Technology (S&T) budget proposed for the EPA. The RSAC will consider how well the budget request: (a) Reflects priorities identified in the EPA and ORD strategic plans; (b) supports a reasonable balance in terms of attention to core research on multimedia capabilities and issues and to media-specific problem-driven topics; and (c) balances attention to near-term and to long-term research issues. In addition, the Committee will offer its advice on: (a) Whether the objectives of the research and development program in ORD and the broader science and technology programs in EPA can be achieved at the resource levels requested; and (b) how can EPA use or improve upon the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) structure to communicate research plans, priorities, research requirements, and planned outcomes. A portion of the meeting will be devoted to development of the Committee's report. The Committee may also discuss the status of its review of the implementation of the peer review program at EPA.....