All you need to know about...the return of GM crops

Why are they in the news?

Food riots and rising prices worldwide in 2008 prompted the Government to reconsider allowing GM crops in Britain. Defra has announced a deadline of June 2009 for protesters to prove they are harmful to our health and the environment. The GM giants are frustrated that in the 13 years since the first genetically modified product (tomato paste) arrived on supermarket shelves from the US, they have made little headway in persuading consumers in Britain and the rest of Europe to accept the crops grown by 12 million farmers in 23 countries, including parts of the North and South America and Asia. But the EU is losing so much money by not growing GM crops that commercial pressures might force it to re-open the door.

What's the case for GM now?

It could feed the world - so, quite a plus point. The area given over to GM crops such as cotton, maize, soya and oilseed rape accounts for only 8 per cent of the world's arable land (equal to five times the size of the UK) but there has been a big increase of GM production in developing countries and backers claim GM could be our best hope as climate change gathers pace, because crops could be modified to become drought or pest resistant. They point out that we already have GM in Britain as it is contained in imported animal feed, so by eating dairy and meat products we are indirectly eating GM foods; many ready meals also contain GM ingredients, and even organic produce can legally have up to 0.9 per cent of GM contamination. The GM companies say this technology could be the salvation of small-scale and subsistence farmers in poor countries, and they warn that if we believe scare stories of ‘Frankenstein foods', we are missing out on a great opportunity. Most of the world is forging ahead, not waiting for the doubters to make up their minds. 

And against?

A 2008 UN report, signed by 400 scientists and endorsed by 60 countries, found no conclusive evidence that GM crops increase crop yields. It called for the focus to shift to sustainable farming based on traditional knowledge in local communities. The high cost of GM is not justified when there are easier, faster, cheaper ways to feed the starving in Africa. Farmers have to buy new seed each year, which goes against traditions of saving and exchanging seeds, and the industry is controlled by half a dozen companies. The technology is just 25 years old (in 1983 scientists created GM tobacco resistant to disease) so it is too early to judge. Despite GM promises, there are no drought- or salt-tolerant crops yet available on the market and they could be decades away.

What are the risks to the British countryside?

The British public rejected GM crops five years ago, for environmental and health reasons. Since then, trials have indicated that GM causes more damage to farmland wildlife than conventional crops - there would be fewer weeds to provide seeds for birds, for example. Our wildlife needs all the help that it can get after decades of intensive farming, but a GM world has been described as "green concrete". In other words, it would be sterile and lifeless apart from the crop. There is also the threat of GM pollen being carried by bees and butterflies to conventional or organic fields. In our small country, organic and GM could not co-exist, unlike the US with its vast grain prairies separated by hundreds of miles.

Country Living verdict

We have always had world hunger and we have always had solutions, but these have been thwarted by corrupt governments, civil strife and climatic conditions. We need to address the basic problems of irrigation, soil erosion and appropriate technology. If there were proof that GM could benefit farmers in Africa, and not just the biotech companies, further trials would be justified. But the evidence does not stack up and the original arguments against GM crops in the UK still hold true.

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