GM NATION
Updated December 2006
JUNE 2003 was your chance to have a say in the National GM Debate. It was called 'GM Nation'.
| ARGUMENTS FOR GM CROPS | ARGUMENTS AGAINST CROPS |
| Developing world farmers are using GM technology - 6 million farmers chose to use GM crops in 2002 | GM crops don't help farmers use fewer chemicals. American farmers have found that some of the promises made don't add up in practice |
| GM crops can produce more from the same area of land - GM cotton grown in India had a yield increase of 80% | GM crops contaminate farmland. Cross-contamination could threaten certified organic farms. |
| GM crops could reduce world hunger and malnutrition | Introducing GM may remove consumer choice. People could lose the right to eat non-GM food. |
| A 10 year study on herbicide resistant oilseed rape found no evidence of outcrossing | GM crops will not feed the world. Only 1% of research is based in poor countries. GM crops are designed to make a few companies rich. |
| 14 million kg of farm chemicals could be saved if half of the EU's major crops were converted to GM | GM crops tend to be used to make processed foods. |
| EU laws on GM usage are already very strict | Will future generations be able to reverse the genetic modification ? |
Arguments produced by spokespeople from companies producing GM crops (including MONSANTO, BAYER & SYNGENTA), and opposing arguments produced by GREENPEACE and FRIENDS of THE EARTH
CLICK THE LINK FOR MORE
Currently, there are no GM foods being grown in the UK, but we import a lot of GM Food.
The Government recently announced that 2007 will see the first GM trial in the UK for some years: the growth of GM potatoes in Derbyshire and Cambridge. This has been criticised by Lord Peter Melchett of Courtyard Farm, Ringstead in Norfolk, who is Policy Director of the SOIL ASSOCIATION, and former executive director of GREENPEACE.
The trial is to be carried out by BASF Plant Science, and is to try to grow a potato resistant to potato blight.
This might be a subject we could explore further in the 6th form...
Updated news in 'The Times' March 2005: Final report on field trials apparently says that oil seed rape would harm wildlife and the environment. Read more by READING THE REPORT.
There are plenty of news reports on the BBC NEWS website. Do a search and you'll find plenty of note