Greenpeace, Jose Bove Protest Against Genetically Engineered Soy on High Seas

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GMW: Greenpeace, Jose Bove Protest Against Genetically

Engineered Soy on High Seas

 

 

" GM WATCH " <info

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:02:02 GMT

 

 

Greenpeace, Jose Bove Protest Against Genetically Engineered Soy on

High Seas

http://www.gmwatch.org

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" Cutting down rainforests and threatening the home of jaguars and pumas

only to produce animal feed for European factory farming is down-right

crazy, " says Arnaud Apoteker. " I don't think any food producer or

retailer in Europe can defend forests being destroyed to produce

animal feed

used to make their food products, and we expect the food industry to

move swiftly to protect their reputation among consumers. "

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http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0125-04.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JANUARY 25, 2005

 

Greenpeace, Jose Bove Protest Against Genetically Engineered Soy on

High Seas

 

WASHINGTON -- January 25 -- This morning the Greenpeace-ship Esperanza

intercepted the bulk carrier 'Golden Lion' 140 nautical miles off the

coast of Portugal. The Golden Lion is transporting 30.000 tons of

genetically engineered soy from Argentina to France. Onboard the

Esperanza

are also leading representatives of the French farmers movement

'Confédération Paysanne' (part of Via Campesina) and the 'Les Faucheurs

Volontaires d'OGM' activist collective.

 

" This GMO shipment should never have been sent to Europe, and we call

on the French public to go to the port in Lorient on Friday to take part

in a peaceful protest against GE soy entering the French food chain, "

says Arnaud Apoteker. " Millions of tons of GE soy are imported each year

to feed cattle, hogs and poultry in Europe. This is a slap in face for

all European citizens who have rejected GMOs in their food. "

 

The Golden Lion is expected to arrive in Lorient, France, Friday this

week. The Monsanto 'Roundup Ready' soy onboard the ship is destined for

use in animal feed. The GMO soy expansion in Argentina has caused the

destruction of millions of hectares of rainforest and driven small

farmers and indigenous people off their land.

 

In Europe, strong and consistent public opposition to GMOs has forced

food producers and retailers not to use GMO ingredients directly in

food, but a big loophole in EU labelling legislation means that eggs,

meat

and dairy products from animals fed with GMOs do not have to be

labelled. As a consequence food producers are able to hide the use of

GMO soy

and maize in animal feed from consumers.

 

Together the three organisations demand a ban on the import of GMOs to

France, and specifically call on the ports of Brittany to reject GMO

imports in line with the wishes of the regional government, which

recently declared its intention to become a GMO-free zone (1).

 

" GMO crops represent the ugly head of destructive industrial

agriculture, threatening both the environment and the livelihoods of

small

farmers, " says Jose Bove. " We denounce the increasing dominance of a few

transnational GMO seed and pesticide companies over the worlds

farmers. We

want to end this sick trade cycle where European farmers have become

dependent on dirty protein crops shipped across the Atlantic. GMOs simply

have no place in sustainable agriculture or in quality food

production. "

 

According to a study by U.S. agronomist Charles Benbrook published last

week, the planting of 14 million hectares of herbicide-resistant soy in

Argentina has created a highly vulnerable agricultural system that has

also had severe social impacts (2). An estimated 2.3 million hectares

of forest and savannah have been destroyed since 1996 to make room for

new GMO soy plantations, and areas that used to grow potatoes, beans and

rice and were pasture for beef and dairy cows have been replaced with

soybean production destined for export markets.

 

" Cutting down rainforests and threatening the home of jaguars and pumas

only to produce animal feed for European factory farming is down-right

crazy, " says Arnaud Apoteker. " I don't think any food producer or

retailer in Europe can defend forests being destroyed to produce

animal feed

used to make their food products, and we expect the food industry to

move swiftly to protect their reputation among consumers. "

 

Greenpeace, Confederation Paysanne and Les Faucheurs Volontaires are

calling on their supporters and the public to join a peaceful and

non-violent protest against the import of GMO soy in the port of

Lorient on

Friday morning when the Golden Lion is due to arrive.

 

Notes to Editor:

 

1. With EU governments on the verge of caving in to US and WTO pressure

to allow (more) GMOs, European regions, cities and rural communities

have responded by taking their own steps to keep GMOs away from European

fields and dinner plates. Brittany is the 17th out of France's 22

regions that has adopted a form of anti-GMO resolution, thereby joining a

rapidly growing movement in Europe where now 100 regions and 3500

sub-regions have declared themselves as GMO-free zones. For more

information

on French and European GMO-free zones, see

http://www.infogm.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=231,

http://www.genet-info.org/Europe.html and

http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/gmofree/index.htm

 

2. Benbrook, C.M. (2005), " Rust, Resistance, Run Down Soils, and rising

Costs: Problems Facing Soybean Producers in Argentina " , Ag Bio Tech

InfoNet, Technical Paper Number 8, see

www.greenpeace.org/international_en/reports

 

CONTACT: Greenpeace

Maartje Van Boekel

Tel No: + 31 6 4616 2021

Fax No: +31 20 5148151

 

 

 

 

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