Ministers have become obsessed with GM crops

DFID’s Agricultural Research Strategy Heading Down a Blind Alley

A three point policy turn is needed urgently, says new report:

"A new report from GM Freeze [1] published today says that DFID’s agriculture research strategy is heading down a blind alley. GM Freeze say DFID is “obsessed with GM crops” as a technical fix to hunger and challenge ministers to adopt policies to build a strong research capability in agroecological farming in the UK [2].

This month’s DFID White Paper [3] specifically mentioned projects involving GM technology as “best bets” (for drought tolerance and vitamin enhancement) and pledges £140 million in support.

The report, Blind Alley, analyses how DFID has allocated agricultural research and development funding since 2000.

It finds a lack of transparency in how research institutions in receipt of UK grants spend the money. Many institutions, which are part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) [4], are given core funding to spend as they wish, without the need to account for how it is spent or to demonstrate tangible results from the research which improve the lives of poor farmers.

The CGIAR network of research institutes [4] has benefited hugely from DFID funding since 2000. Many of its members are actively engaged in GM research. Earlier this year, Hilary Benn told a Select Committee that £11.3m were allocated to GM crop-related research in the UK by the BBSRC[5].

The new report also points to DFID’s failure to make any changes to their agricultural R&D programs in response to the key findings of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) published in 2008 [6]. This week’s DFID White Paper fails to mention the report. The IAASTD report recommended that agroecological research should get greater priority, in particular to deal with the impacts of climate change and to enhance the production of food, fuel and fibre while still providing ecosystems services (eg, clean water) and protecting natural resources and biodiversity.

DFID’s failure could contribute to further food insecurity and land degradation, instead of enabling real and sustainable solutions.

The GM Freeze report goes on to look at two projects in particular which seek to increase the intensity of farming in Africa using fossil-fuels based fertilizers and pesticides and hybrid/GM seeds [7]. Both projects involve partnerships with biotech and agro-chemical corporations, including Monsanto and Bayer. The impacts of intensive farming on Africa’s fragile environment and public health have not been adequately assessed by DFID, says the report. It also points out that the rising costs of fertilizers, pesticides, seeds and other farm inputs make them unaffordable for many small farmers...."

"..DFID is funding public private partnerships involving the likes of Monsanto and Bayer. Ministers have become obsessed with GM crops as a major part of the solution to hunger based on the thinnest of possible evidence...."

www.gmfreeze.org/page.asp?id=387

www.gmfreeze.org

Meanwhile in America:

www.prisonplanet.com/obama-puts-monsanto-lobbyist-in-charge-of-food-safety.html

And then there is the subject of Fish:

www.grain.org/seedling/?id=606

The fascist EU has ruined Britain’s fishing grounds – and this is the REAL reason that Iceland’s being looted by the Communitarian Bankers. So the EU can get to their fishing grounds and ruin them too!

And the European Union is robbing the Third World of its fish !

No wonder some of the locals have turned to attacking passing oil tankers! Who can blame them?

“In essence, FPAs simply export the EU’s overfishing problem elsewhere.”

"Gaining access to the territorial waters of many developing countries has been a goal of expanding global capital in recent years. It comes in different forms and under different names but with the single objective of extracting profits for big business. The European Union (EU) is at the forefront of this drive. Through fisheries partnership agreements (FPAs), the EU is able to sustain its lucrative fishing industry and export its overfishing problems to other parts of the world – Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific – often with disastrous consequences for local small fishers. Now the EU is testing Asia’s waters. In this article, GRAIN investigates how Asia’s small fishers stand under the proposed EU–ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA)."

Empty coasts, barren seas

Yeah, these multi-national corporations really love the environment of the countries whose commodities they assett strip/steal, and they really care about the people who live in there!

http://weblog.sinteur.com/2008/02/sea-of-garbage

http://foodbizdaily.com/articles/48310-diageo-to-cut-900-scottish-jobs-by-closing-johnny.aspx

We need to wake up - fast!

Looting and asset- stripping all around the world.

Their master plan - to totally destroy all natural food so we have no choice but to buy and eat the crap they are genetically developing for us - like this delicacy:

http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/313673/MAKE-WAY-SUSHI-FOR-SEWAGE-BURGER.html

Soylent Green gets nearer every day!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVpN312hYgU

Stop Common Purpose.

www.stopcp.com

Insanity is so right:

www.dailymotion.com/video/x1yjd_jamiroquai-virtual-insanity_fun