1. GM crops to be planted in Britain again this year
2. GM - Gathering Momentum Anti-GM networking and strategy session

NOTE: There's a new push to force GM crops into the UK (item 1). It's time to get active again, folks (item 2). See you in London!
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1. GM crops to be planted in Britain again this year
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent  
The Telegraph
11 Jan 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6953732/GM-crops-to-be-planted-in-Britain-again-this-year.html

A new wave of genetically modified (GM) crops are to be planted in the British countryside this year as the Government increases its support for the technology.

Leeds University, where a successful trial was carried out last year, is to apply for a licence for a new field trial of GM potatoes.

Meanwhile the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) want to plant GM crops on a demonstration farm as part of a new drive to boost public understanding of the latest developments in plant breeding.

It comes as John Beddington, the Government's chief scientist, said the UK should be carrying out more research into GM and further applications are expected to come forward in the future.

Environmentalists, including the Prince of Wales, have argued that altering the genetic material of plants could prove "catastrophic" for delicate ecosystems around the world.

However, with increasing concerns about food security and millions of hectares of GM already planted in the Americas, there is growing pressure on the UK to accept the science.

The UK Government has recently licensed a number of research projects into GM plant breeding in the laboratory but only one field trial in Leeds.

Last week Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said that Britain could revolutionise farming and food production over the next 10 years.

The research into a pest-resistant potato was successfully carried out last year and scientists may plant a new crop this spring.

Dr Peter Urwin, of the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds, said researchers would also be applying to test another type of GM potato this year.

Both trials are looking at a GM potato that is resistant to a microscopic parasitic worm, the nematode, which costs British farmers £65m per year.

A few hundred potatoes will be planted in a highly secure sight in Tadcaster in North Yorkshire.

"It is disappointing that we have to secure things behind fences and have security patrols," said Dr Urwin. "But as a country, if we are to go forward in food security and agriculture then we have to look at these things."

Meanwhile NIAB want to plant GM crops on a new demonstration farm as part of a new drive to teach the public about the latest developments in plant breeding

"Innovation Farm" in Cambridgeshire will begin operating this year and is expected to include new breeds of wheat and potatoes.

Lydia Smith, of NIAB, said the GM crops could be planted on the farm as they are developed so that farmers, media and members of the public could see the benefits.

"We want to present the biotechnology truthfully and without bias. There has been almost no opportunity to do that," she said. "GM is something we are looking at alongside other techniques."

Prof Beddington said GM must be looked at as a possible technique for boosting food production, whilst reducing the use of chemicals and water.

He said the trashing of open air field trials in the past was holding back UK science and the Government would be looking at ways to make it easier to research GM. This could include Government sites where the plants are better protected and relaxing EU rules that mean scientists have to publish the grid reference of every field trial.

"We have a real problem. We have to get 50 per cent more food in 20 year's time on the same amount of land. How are we going to do that? It won't be solved by GM but we should not throw away a tool when we have a problem like this."

However Peter Riley, of GM Freeze, said there are still question marks over environmental and health impacts.

"The Government has an obsession with GM that is not backed up by the crops that have been demonstrated so far. We have had year and years of trials and they are simply not performing and companies are not interested. The Government need to look outside this process and look at existing methods or new breeding techniques that provide high quality food and protect the environment."
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2. GM - Gathering Momentum
Anti-GM networking and strategy session
Saturday 22nd January 10am - 6pm, London

You are warmly invited to an anti-GM update and strategy session in London on Saturday 22 January 2011. This day long national gathering will bring together a wide range of people campaigning on GM related issues, from climate activists to NGO representatives, community food growers to beekeepers.

This is the perfect opportunity to interrogate experts from a wide variety of fields, and explore the UK's emerging radical land and food movement. The morning's briefing sessions are designed to give you clear data and an authoritative context on current issues. The afternoon will focus on sharing and developing campaign ideas.

GM: Gathering Momentum is organised by Stop GM http://www.stopgm.org.uk/ in conjunction with the Genetic Engineering Network http://www.geneticsaction.org.uk/gen/. The free event will be hosted in London from 10-6pm, and lunch will be provided.

Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive a registration form.