2.Victory as Government cancels Food Standards Agency's pro-GM debate
EXTRACT: "There are two more things the Government should do. First, stop wasting public money on GM research £20 million of tax payers money has gone into GM crop research since 1997 [2] but not a single GM crop is being grown in this country. Second, the Government should tell the Food Standards Agency to take steps to remove the blanket of secrecy over the last hiding place of GM in our food system, by insisting that milk and other dairy products, and meat, that come from animals fed on GM food, are clearly labelled."
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1.Decision to Abandon FSA GM Dialogue Welcomed
Immediate Release, 17 September 2010
GM Freeze welcomed Science Minister David Willets' announcement that the Food Standards Agency's planned GM Dialogue will be abandoned.
The FSA's GM dialogue was being planned at the bequest of the previous government in collaboration with ScienceWise and the Central Office of Information. [1]
The planning of the dialogue ran into problems in May 2010 when two members of the independent steering committee, including the vice chair, resigned over concerns about the motivations behind the dialogue and the process for selecting contractors to carry it out. [2]
Yesterday David Willets said:
"I'm announcing today that the GM dialogue project will not continue in its current format. However, it's vital to engage people of all ages on scientific issues, so that they have a real say about developments which can affect all of us. Instead we are taking this valuable opportunity to step back and review past dialogues on GM and other areas of science to ensure we understand how best to engage the public over such issues." [3]
The public remains concerned about the use of GM technology in food production according to a poll about the use of GM animals feed earlier this year [4].
Commenting Pete Riley of GM Freeze said:
"We welcome the decision to abandon the GM dialogue the project was flawed from the start because Ministers in the previous government and the FSA saw it as an opportunity to persuade the public that they were wrong to oppose GM food and crops. The resignations highlighted the fact that it would never have been a dialogue in the true sense of the word because the sponsors were only seeking one outcome.
"Public involvement in major decisions about our food and its production is vital. It's not just for science there are complex socio-economic and cultural factors that must be allowed to guide and influence the final decisions. Food and farming policies barely get a mention during election campaigns, so we would welcome genuine attempts to work with the public in order to shape the future direction for food and farming."
ENDS
Calls to Pete Riley 07903 341 065
Notes
1. See http://www.food.gov.uk/gmfoods/gm/gmdialogue/
2. See Resignation letter from Professor Brian Wynn and Dr Helen Wallace at http://www.genewatch.org/article.shtml?als[cid]=492860&als[itemid]=566339.
3. See http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=415513.
4. See http://www.gmfreeze.org/page.asp?ID=436&iType=1083.
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2.Victory as Government cancels Food Standards Agency's pro GM debate
Soil Association, 17 September 2010
The FSA planned to spend half a million pounds on a public engagement exercise about GM food which NGOs have widely condemned as biased. Two eminent Scientists, Professor Brian Wynne and Dr Helen Wallace had already resigned from the project steering group, saying the process was a sham - rigged towards attempting to encourage the public to support GM food and in favour of GM industry [1].
Peter Melchett, Soil Association Policy Director said:
"The last Government tried persistently to peddle GM food to a sceptical public. It was outrageous that the FSA allowed themselves to be used to try and push GM food on the British people, and in doing so they once again departed from what is meant to be their role of defending the interests of consumers. The Government's decision proves they are willing to let people decide what they eat, rather than trying to foist GM upon them.
There are two more things the Government should do. First, stop wasting public money on GM research GBP20 million of tax payers money has gone into GM crop research since 1997 [2] but not a single GM crop is being grown in this country. Second, the Government should tell the Food Standards Agency to take steps to remove the blanket of secrecy over the last hiding place of GM from our food system, by insisting that milk and other dairy products, and meat, that come from animals fed on GM food, are clearly labelled.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
[1] Soil Association press release on Brian Wynne's resignation from the FSA's steering group on GM:
http://www.soilassociation.org/News/NewsItem/tabid/91/smid/463/ArticleID/396/reftab/92/t/Second-resignation-from-the-FSA-s-steering-group-on-GM/Default.aspx
[2] Response to a Parliamentary question re: GM research undertaken by defra:
http://services.parliament.uk/hansard/Commons/ByDate/20100715/writtenanswers/part011.html