07.08.2003 |

Former British environment minister: Co-existence impossible

Coming back from a fact finding mission in Canada, former minister Michael Meacher writes: "co-existence'' - a framework to ensure that organic and conventional farming can survive and prosper alongside GM farming - is a mirage. In Saskatchewan, organic oilseed rape has been wiped out by cross-contamination from Monsanto`s 'Roundup Ready' GM canola. If it is impossible to separate off organic oilseed rape in the vast spaces of the Canada prairies, it is inconceivable that it can be kept separate in the very much smaller land area of Europe.Even more disturbing is that pollution of organic crops does not come primarily airborne, from pollen, but from contamination of the seed supply.</p><p><a href="http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=430971">Michael Meacher in the Independent</a>