Tell your MP not to fall for GM hype

It has been revealed that Government is looking into ways GM crops could be grown in Britain.

The GM industry claims that GM crops will help solve the global food crisis. And it looks like Government might believe their spin - even though there is no evidence for their claims.

The problem with GM crops

GM crops do not increase average yields and there are no GM drought-tolerant or salt-tolerant crops on the market.

UK Government-sponsored farm trials also demonstrated that GM crops can be more damaging for farmland wildlife than their conventional equivalents.

In fact GM crops represent the worst extremes of an industrial farming system that has failed people and the environment worldwide.

But it appears that Government is being misled by the GM industry - and failing to listen to the wishes of the public.

Contact your MP

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I am writing as one of your constituents to express my concerns over the Government's recent moves to find ways of growing GM crops in Britain. The industry is touting GM crops as a solution to the global food crisis. Evidence shows that GM crops do not increase yields or tackle hunger and poverty. There are no GM drought- or salt-tolerant crops on the market, and most GM crops grown around the world are used for animal feed, not food. The industry also claims GM crops do not harm the environment, yet Government-sponsored farm-scale trials in the UK found that two out of three GM crops grown were more damaging to farmland wildlife than growing conventional equivalents. I do not want to see the British countryside lose even more biodiversity through the inevitable intensification of agriculture that GM cultivation would bring. Furthermore, I am just one of the many constituents who has consistently opposed the growing of GM crops in the UK - the GM Nation debate concluded that 85% of the public didn't want GM crops grown in this country and in 2006 95% rejected Government proposals on weak rules for growing GM crops in England. It is therefore imperative that Government looks at the true facts behind GM, and dismisses industry spin and not the wishes of the public. Please would you raise my concerns in writing with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Hilary Benn? Please ask that he does not allow the GM industry's hype over the food crisis to force GM crops upon a country that has consistently opposed them. Instead he should be encouraging a radical shift towards sustainable farming systems that genuinely benefit local farmers, communities and the environment worldwide, as called for in the International Agriculture Assessment which the UK has recently signed up to. I look forward to hearing from you.

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Main image © Pete Riley/GM Freeze