NOTE: Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, argues in a recent letter to the UK publication Farmers Weekly that a recent poll commissioned by the National Farmers Union (NFU) shows that concern over GM crops is growing. Peter was responding to a piece in Farmers Weekly by its pro-GM columnist David Richardson, which had claimed the NFU poll showed growing public acceptance of GM.

The survey is carried out every year for the NFU by English Marketing asking the same questions every time about a range of farming issues. In relation to GM, one of the questions is as follows:
 
"Which one of these statements comes closest to your view on the role of Genetically Modified crops in British farming?
*GMs are the future of farming, as they allow us to grow more food and fuel without damaging the environment
*There may be a place for GMs in the future of British farming but only if their use is tightly controlled
*I am concerned about GMs and believe that farmers should not grow them until consumers like me have been reassured as to their safety and impact on the environment
*GMs should not be grown in Britain".

A separate question asks whether farmers growing GM crops would undermine trust in British farming.
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Farmers Weekly, 8 October 2010, pp.26 & 27

Dear Editor

David Richardson is completely wrong about public attitudes to GM.

He claimed (Opinion, 17 September) that a recent NFU poll shows public willingness to accept GM is growing. In fact, the poll he quotes shows exactly the opposite.  

Four statements about GM crops were put to people in the poll, two basically in favour, two against.  The answers showed that concern over GM crops has grown from 48% in 2008, to 50% in 2009, and is sharply up again this year to 56%.

So the NFU's own polling shows steadily rising opposition to GM. The NFU poll also shows that when people were asked if farming GM crops would undermine trust in British farming, 48% said yes, which is up from 44% in 2009, and 37% in 2008.

David asks 'are we winning'? If 'we' is the pro-GM lobby in the UK, the answer is clearly no. And now that the 'GM-Free' label is the fastest growing grocery label in the USA, David's pro-GM allies over there are not doing too well either.

Peter Melchett
Policy Director
Soil Association