| "We now have what we've never had before - the muscle to turn our products into blockbusters" - Igor Landau - Aventis. |
| Blockbusters? So says Igor! Planetbusters, more like...
genetiX snowball - the original! GM-INFO - 'all you need to get active against the biotech beast.' This excellent site run by Corporate Watch has very comprehensive maps and up to the minute info for UK activists. GENETECH - a site that houses quality archived discussion lists on genetic engineering at a level (mostly) understandable to the lay person. 13 Myths About Genetic Engineering - get yer facts straight. Norfolk Genetic Engineering Network ngin : farmscale trials and conflicts of interest Gene Watch 'questions how, why and whether the use of genetic technologies should proceed and believes that the debate over genetic engineering is long overdue.' Web-Agri: The Premier Agricultural Search Engine Who's Spinning the Pro-GM Story? Click here for an active and comprehensive list of GE test field locations in UK - shows those already destroyed, too. And just to round off, if you think it's worth bothering with your local council here's a template letter to get you started:- Dear Sir/Madam, We are becoming increasingly alarmed at the cavalier stance our government appears to be adopting over the integrity and quality of our food and our environment. The latest news from the EU commission implies that it is no longer possible for Europe to withstand US insistence, aided and abbetted by unelected so-called experts like J.Krebs, D.Sainsbury and the boys from Glaxo, Aventis, Novartis, Cargill, Monsanto et.al. that genetically modified foodstuffs MUST be allowed into Europe, regardless of the majority decision of retail suppliers and consumers that has rejected such foodstuffs on various grounds; regardless of the incredible volume of evidence and research documentation detailing how much better our countryside and our health would be under an organic agricultural regime; regardless of the latter's immense rise in popularity and demand. Until independently accredited food labelling becomes mandatory it has become obvious that the public has no defence or choice in the matter as to what it is now virtually being force fed. This is hardly democratic or even decent behaviour. Nobody has the right to expect others to become 'guinea-pigs' without their full knowledge and consent. The only ways it seems we have left to defend ourselves against such a blatantly profit-driven transnational and plutocratic campaign is to grow our own food in isolated surroundings and/or purchase only Soil Association certified foodstuffs. Even food labelled 'GMO-free', especially if it comes from the US, Argentina or Canada, cannot be trusted unless the testing laboratory's data can be examined and its funding can be traced (i.e. _genuine_ impartiality can be guaranteed). To this end we write requesting that you furnish us with the names and addresses of suitable laboratories in England that will test for DNA modification, at government or biotech company expense, any food item that a consumer feels uncertain about. In view of the expanding BSE/nvCJD and FMD disasters and the now proven incompetence of MAFF, previously the 'guiding light' on all matters biotech, we would imagine that concerned local councils' Local Agenda 21 and Environmental Health teams will be given high priority to adopt comprehensive procedures to protect its constituents and their environment from the largely unknown dangers of recently modified foodstuffs, their synergistic effects on children and the ailing and their possible environmental impacts. Perhaps you will be setting up labs yourselves and also encouraging large distributors to do the same to allow the public to test food at the point of sale? There appears to be no alternative to such locally led initiatives, especially in what we are assured is still a caring democracy. Thanks in advance for your assistance in this very grave matter, Yours most sincerely, |