TAKE ACTION: Write to Morrisons Head of Policy David Scott (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) telling him you want the company to reinstate its non-GM feed policy for poultry.
Leave a comment on the Morrisons FaceBook page (www.facebook.com/MorrisonsWeLoveFood) telling the company and anyone visiting the page it is unacceptable to drop their non-GM poultry feed policy and demanding it be reinstated.
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Dr Brian John writes to Morrisons:
Morrisons Head of Policy (David Scott)
31st March 2012
Dear Mr Scott
Following your decision to allow your stores to sell poultry products and eggs from birds fed with GM soy, my wife and I will no longer shop with Morrisons. There is a wide sense of outrage at this ridiculous decision, which goes against the wishes of British consumers and also places the health of consumers at risk.
I am sure that many others have complained. I gather that this has been your response:
"Morrisons is not altering its policy on the use of GM in food: we do not use genetically modified ingredients in any of our own brand products and have no plans to change this. However, in order to ease pressure on farmers and to strengthen our ability to hold down prices for consumers, we are no longer specifying that our poultry farmers use non-GM feed. At the same time we are introducing measures to improve the sustainability of the feed supply chain.
"Morrisons is alive to concerns over the impacts of both GM and non-GM soya production on the natural environment, such as the Cerrado in Brazil. We are working to improve the sustainability of the feed supply chain by investing in research into alternative protein sources and the development of home-grown soya, which would reduce reliance on imports in the future. Importantly, we are also looking to increase the use of certified sustainable soya in our supply chain, through initiatives such as the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)."
This response is thoroughly disingenuous. What on earth do you mean by "ease pressure on farmers"? RTRS soy is only cheaper for those farmers who cannot be bothered to source non-GM soy properly – there is abundant non-GM soy on the global market, and it is obtainable via a number of trading mechanisms including at least one that guarantees to hold prices down in the longer term. The marketing advantages of using non-GM soy are still very great indeed – instead of which both you and the poultry producers will now have to face a barrage of negative publicity and lost trade. And this statement: "We are working to improve the sustainability of the feed supply chain....." is laughable, given that RTRS soy is about as unsustainable as anything can be, since it is already well known that GM soy production is associated with dramatic environmental and health damage – not to mention the socio-economic effects in communities in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The fact that you are now apparently signed up to the RTRS brand does you no credit at all – that brand is involved in the worst kind of greenwashing, and is cynically manipulated by the GM industry.
And what of your attitude to animal welfare? I have been following the research on GM soy for years, and there is no doubt at all that GM soy is associated with chronic toxic effects in the animals that consume it. Before very long – in spite of the attempts of the GM industry and our own regulators to suppress research in this field, the damage done to animals by a GM soy diet will be fully exposed for the world to see – by which time your reputation will have been severely tarnished.
Bad decision, Morrisons. From now on, no more visits to Morrisons stores for us.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Brian John