EXCERPTS:
"Prime Minister Helen Clark says the Government is not going to change its genetic engineering policy despite protests at the weekend." (item 1)
Alannah Currie [the founder of MAdGE] stated that she was tired, frustrated and angry of presenting arguments to the politicians who ignored and belittled "us (MAdGE representatives) every time."
To a roaring crowd in Myers Park, Currie said in her speech, "Hell hath no fury like women ignored. Moratorium, or no moratorium. MAdGE or no MAdGE. The mothers of New Zealand and their families will not give up the fight. One way or another we will keep this country GE free."
She quoted the politicians' replies, in a mock-posh voice, "New Zealand has the most rigorous bio-security systems in the world." Currie ridiculed "sad, pathetic, useless Aunty ERMA" (the Environmental Risk Management Agency) saying that the government agency had never turned down a GE application to date. She stated that "They (ERMA) are a toothless hound guarding the chicken coop of corporate-funded scientists, lawyers and ignorant politicians," to which the crowd cheered, clapped and howled. "The government did a report on ERMA a few months ago and found forty-nine areas of weakness. If ERMA is our protector, if ERMA is our safeguard, then I ask, would anyone use a condom with 49 holes in it?" (item 2)
1.No chance of changing GE policy, Clark says
2.Seeds of Change - more on the big protest in NZ
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1.No chance of changing GE policy, Clark says
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?reportID=53009
New Zealand Press Agency / The New Zealand Herald, Oct 13, 2003
Prime Minister Helen Clark says the Government is not going to change its genetic engineering policy despite protests at the weekend. Thousands of demonstrators marched in Auckland, Wellington and other cities to protest against the lifting of the moratorium for releasing GE organisms on October 29. "The legislation for the moratorium was passed 18 months ago and no, the Government won't be revisiting it," Helen Clark told Newstalk ZB radio. Police estimated 15,000 people joined an anti-GE march in Auckland on Saturday and about 1500 marched through Wellington. The turnout in Christchurch was estimated at 2000 and in Dunedin 700. They were organised by Greenpeace, Mothers Against Genetic Engineering and the GE-free coalition. Green MP Sue Kedgley said it was not too late for the Government to introduce legislation to extend the ban. Helen Clark ended any chance of that with her confirmation today that the moratorium would be lifted. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said any application to the Environmental Risk Management Authority, after the moratorium was lifted, would be carefully considered. "It's unlikely I think that New Zealanders will see fresh genetically-engineered food on sale in New Zealand for maybe eight or 10 years, if ever," she told Newstalk ZB.
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2.Seeds of Change
Scoop, New Zealand, October 12, 2003
Between 35,000 to 40,000 people [Greenpeace counted them] marched to keep Aotearoa New Zealand GE free in central Auckland at midday on 11 October. The train system ran late and could not handle the full loads as thousands descended from the out-lying suburbs of one of the world's geographically largest cities. Transrail staff (in charge of a train-set which, like other once publicly-owned resources, is about to be sold to another trans-national corporation) let many demonstrators come to the march free. Their arrival was timely as they surged out of the Britomart station to join from the back as other protestors started the mile and half walk up Queen Street.
This was the 3rd big march in Auckland on the issue of genetic engineering biotechnology. Unlike the two previous marches, this one was also Rain-free, despite weather forecasts of frequent showers. The messages on tee-shirts, banners and placards made it clear that the people there felt that the prime minister, Helen Clark, and her cabinet colleagues, have been unmoved to consider the importance of full public discussion on the introduction of GE, patents on life and the alternatives available. One banner read, "Hang on Helen!", which was created by the Econation group calling for an organic eco-nation by the year 2020.
Greenpeace New Zealand's GE free campaign manager, Steve Abel, said that the GE free movement was strong and that "we aren't going to go away." Abel compared the GE free campaign to the anti-nuclear movement that took 10 years of campaigning before New Zealand was declared "Nuclear Free." People brought friends, whanau and co-workers to participate in the social change requiring the politicians to "listen". The crowd chanted "Helen - Listen! Helen - Listen!" Many groups and businesses were present, including MAdGE (Mothers Against Genetic Engineering) which boosts a membership of "two thousand women and their families from the Far North to Bluff" after only 20 months since it was founded by Alannah Currie. Currie took the stage with 15 other women who all wore bright pink bras over black tee-shirts. Currie described how the MAdGE group "has spread like a hot pink virus right across the country." Currie quoted their slogan, "GE, we don't buy it!" Currie said to the crowd that they had "power in their purse" to get companies to stop using GE ingredients. "If you boycott those companies that are using GE ingredients in their food products ... and you phone them and tell them why you won't buy this stuff, then they will stop using it. It's really easy. Ultimately you the consumer, you the lone shopper, dictate what seeds go into the ground, not just in New Zealand, but right across the world."
Currie mocked the government for their standard responses when people wrote to them asking how they were going to protect the land from GE pollution. She quoted the politicians' replies, in a mock-posh voice, "New Zealand has the most rigorous bio-security systems in the world." Currie ridiculed "sad, pathetic, useless Aunty ERMA" (the Environmental Risk Management Agency) saying that the government agency had never turned down a GE application to date. She stated that "They (ERMA) are a toothless hound guarding the chicken coop of corporate-funded scientists, lawyers and ignorant politicians," to which the crowd cheered, clapped and howled. "The government did a report on ERMA a few months ago and found forty-nine areas of weakness. If ERMA is our protector, if ERMA is our safeguard, then I ask, would anyone use a condom with 49 holes in it?", said Currie. Currie stated that she was tired, frustrated and angry of presenting arguments to the politicians who ignored and belittled "us" (MAdGE representatives) every time."
To a roaring crowd in Myers Park, Currie said in her speech, "Hell hath no fury like women ignored. Moratorium, or no moratorium. MAdGE or no MAdGE. The mothers of New Zealand and their families will not give up the fight. One way or another we will keep this country GE free."
Asked after the speeches, if there is an opportunity for the country to discuss the GE issue by extending the moratorium for five years, Abel said, "I actually don't think we should extend the moratorium for five years. We should extend it indefinitely. Do we want to extend the moratorium and then re-litigate in five years? Do we want to be nuclear-free for five years? It should be established as law that we keep our country GE free. Discussion? Christ, we've had so much discussion! The point is the government isn't listening to what the people want. The government don't want to meet us. We call them (the government) up all the time and ask them to meet and they say, 'No. We've made up our mind. We've got nothing more to say on that.' " In mathematics, it is fact that three events set a pattern. Time will tell whether the third and biggest march (by more than double the two previous events) in Auckland has set the pattern for a movement that "won't go away" until it gets what it wants. Don't ask the Met Office for a prediction of whether the government will prevail or if the winds of change will favour the GE free movement and patent free seeds. Look to history for what has happened to governments when they don't listen to the people.
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3.Small scale farmers grow a new movement
PRESS RELEASE - BIOWATCH SOUTH AFRICA - 13 October 2003
On the eve of World Food Security Day, the key providers of the country's food began an historical meeting with the cry of "One farmer, one voice!" The small scale farmers of South Africa have united in a national forum to fight for their rights. They gathered from around the country and spent 3 days discussing solutions to the unique challenges faced by small scale farmers - those who are responsible for feeding the families and communities of South Africa.
The meeting culminated in the election of a Farmers Council comprised of leaders from each province to grow the South African Small Scale Farmers Forum from the bottom up. Before leading a traditional ceremony to bless the soil and pray for rain and good crops, Spiritual Leader Dr Ntate Koka reminded the farmers that they are the true leaders of the African Renaissance because they retain the culture of Africa. As he let seeds fall from his hand into a weaved bowl, he said, "there can be no agriculture without culture".
Small scale farmers typically farm on acres rather than hectares of land, principally to put food on their families tables. The challenges identified at the meeting included assistance with faster access to land, water, markets and finances. There was also a strong call for government to support organic and sustainable farming methods which are cheap, environmentally friendly and produce highly marketable products. Ntate Nkoka said "our culture is organic" and farmers agreed that they hold a wealth of indigenous knowledge in organic farming which needs to be built upon. Indigenous seed must also be protected and promoted because it is naturally adapted to our climate but fast being replaced by aggressively marketed industrial seed. The farmers realised the need for a united voice to ensure that their needs are heard and supported.
The seed of the SA Small Scale Farmers Forum was planted last year at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), where over 300 farmers and farmer leaders from all over Africa came together to represent themselves rather than having government, industry or non-governmental organisations speak for them. A regional body, the East and Southern African Small Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) was born. The South African meeting, held a year later at the Wilgespruit Fellowship Centre in Roodepoort, renewed and formalised the commitment of South African farmers to begin a movement to raise the profile of small scale farmers in South Africa and throughout the continent. ESAFF chairperson, Esta Kiwazi of Uganda, said in her keynote address, "we (farmers) are hard pressed but we're not crushed because farming is our culture, culture does not die."
The newly elected SA Small Scale Farmers Forum coordinating body will now return to their provinces where they will build from the ground up and bring other farmers on board to join the movement. South African chairperson Thato Lesupi said in his closing speech, "until the lion is able to tell his story, the it will always be told by the hunter." Ends
For more information contact: Haidee Swanby, Biowatch South Africa, (021) 447 5939, 083 520 1782
Video footage, audio and photographs of the meeting and traditional seed ceremony are available.
Contacts:
SA Small Farmer Forum Chair, Free State, Mr. Thato Lesupi: 083 402 8606
Mpumalanga rep, Ms. Tsepho Khumbane speaks on the innovativeness of small scale farmers : 012 735 1570 or 084 864 3049
KZN rep, Ms. Aurelia Mhlongo speaks on the need for s.s. farmers to access wider markets. 035 474 9888
Western Cape rep, Mr. Karloff Naude speaks on the importance of growing the farmers forum from the ground up O843054618
Biowatch SA outreach facilitator, Gauteng, Mr Peter Komane has been instrumental in bringing farmers together since the
WSSD to date -082 298 4860
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4.Tractor farmer leads protest
BBC News Online
Monday, 13 October, 2003, 11:18 GMT 12:18 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/3186988.stm
A west Wales farmer has made it to London by tractor in time to lead a protest against genetically modified crops.
Gerald Miles has spent the past week travelling 349 miles at a top speed of 18 mph to take part in Monday's parade. The 55-year-old organic farmer made the trek to drum up opposition to GM food and crops.
The protest comes days before the results of UK Government trials of GM maize are announced.
Mr Miles left the village square in Mathry, Pembrokeshire, early last Monday and his route took him through Swansea and Cardiff to London, with a detour via Birmingham.
He said: "I have felt every bump but it has certainly been worthwhile.
"The support we have had has been wonderful. It's been much stronger than I thought it would be before I started last Monday.
Weedkillers
"Everywhere we have been there has been a wonderful welcome and out on the road drivers have been sounding their horns in support.
"It has shown how concerned people in Wales are about GM crops."
His will be one of five tractors that will lead the parade from the National Farmers Union headquarters, to Downing Street and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
There protesters will hand in messages opposing GM.
The government is set to announce the results of field trials on GM farming on Thursday.
The tests compare use of weedkillers on GM and non-GM maize production, and are expected to show that GM farming is more eco-friendly.
But former environment minister Michael Meacher, who set up the trials, has launched an attack on the tests, claiming a recent EU weedkiller ban rendered the results invalid.
'Nail in the coffin'
"We need to try the trials again with a different herbicide to see what the comparison is between that and the GM one," he said.
"I cannot see that the government could logically, consistently, or morally go ahead when the comparison is exposed to everybody as not being a valid or a real one."
Mr Miles, a member of the Farmers' Union of Wales, said the introduction of GM crops would be "another nail in the coffin of farming in Wales."
He added: "Shoppers don't want to buy GM foods, supermarkets don't want to sell it and farmers don't want to grow it."
Mr Meacher will be the guest speaker at an anti-GM rally in Carmarthen on Friday organised by Farming and Livestock Concern UK, the FUW and Carmarthen Gene Concern.
It takes place at St Peter's Hall at 19.30BST.
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5.Cowardly NFU want no compensation for non-GM farmers with contaminated crops
Soil Association Press Release, 10 October 2003
The Soil Association today attacked the National Farmers' Union's position that non-GM farmers should have no financial protection if GM crops are grown in the UK. The NFU are keen that GM farmers do not have to pay in full for any damage they cause, saying that it would "be disproportionate to allow the entire responsibility for implementing management measures for coexistence [to] fall on the grower of a GM crop". In fact, they seem happy for the entire responsibility to fall on non-GM and organic farmers - but they don't come clean and say so. The NFU published their Policy Statement on the coexistence of GM crops with conventional and organic production on 7 October.
Patrick Holden, Soil Association Director, said "This weasel worded statement from the NFU tells us what they don't want: GM farmers to be responsible for the economic losses they might cause their non-GM and organic neighbours. What the NFU don't have the guts to say is what they do want - which is to leave non-GM farmers paying for the damage that they will suffer if GM crops are ever grown in the UK".
The NFU paper discusses options to protect non-GM growers in the event of contamination by GM. The NFU opposes the use of the courts by non-GM growers, rightly saying that this would be "most unsatisfactory and uncertain", that legal action would be "costly", and that "it is unclear if it could be successful".
The NFU says compensation schemes , whether funded by the taxpayer or industry, would be problematic, and could be highly bureaucratic. They " fundamentally oppose a levy" and appear to favour insurance - which means the cost (of insurance premiums) would fall on non-GM farmers and organic farmers.
But they do recognise what is already widely known, namely that "most insurance companies would be reluctant to offer insurance in the early stages of introduction of GM crops due to the uncertainties in assessing the risk". In fact, no insurance companies are prepared to provide insurance against the risk of GM contamination. The only option left would be what the NFU describes as doing "nothing and let the non-GM grower bear any commercial loss".
Patrick Holden added "The NFU's irresponsible position threatens the future of the vast majority of conventional farmers who do not want to grow GM crops. It could also spell financial ruin for many organic farmers. The Soil Association's position is clear: responsibility for any financial losses suffered by non-GM farmers, organic and conventional, should be met by the GM chemical companies who stand to profit from GM crops".
ENDS
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Version 010.1 | Issued10/10/2003