Press Release

Become a Golden Supporter

For Immediate Release:Thursday, 10th April 2003

Photo Opportunity: Saturday 12 April: Local election candidates posing with an "I support GM-Free Britain" speech bubble and signing petitions to the council: 11.30am on the corner of Forman Street and Stratford Road, Sparkhill 1pm outside Aldi on Stratford Road, Sparkbrook.

GM - It's Now Or Never
Election Candidates Join Friends of the Earth in Call for GM-Free Brum

GM campaigners from Birmingham Friends of the Earth, with help from residents of Sparkhill and Sparkbrook, will be calling on local election candidates to support a GM-free council resolution on Saturday 12th April. Around 70 local GM-Free Britain groups will be staging similar events as part of a nationwide protest.

Residents will also be calling on their local election candidates to address the issue of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), and to propose a GM-Free Birmingham resolution in council should they be elected. Election candidates from all over the city have been contacted as part of the campaign, and asked to publicly support Friends of the Earth's call for Birmingham to declare itself GM-Free.

The GM-Free Britain campaign comes at a crucial time in the GM debate. Over the next year or so the Government will decide whether to allow GM crops to be commercially grown across the UK. If it does, it would lead to widespread GM contamination of our food, crops and environment, and remove peoples' right to say no to GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).

Birmingham Friends of the Earth is calling on Birmingham City Council to:

1. write to the European Commission and the Government asking them to prevent particular GM crops being grown in their area to protect the environment; [1]
2. ensure that no GM crops are grown on land which they control;
3. adopt a GM-free policy for all goods and services for which the authority is responsible, for example ensuring that school caterers provide GM-free food to schools.

A number of local authorities around the country have already voted to go GM-free [2] and GM crops and food remain deeply unpopular. A survey in the Grocer in September 2002 found that 58 per cent of those questioned said they would avoid products containing GM ingredients. And an NOP poll for Friends of the Earth, published on the same day, revealed that 63 per cent of honey buyers wanted it to be GM-free.

In Birmingham Liberal Democrat and Green Party candidates have already expressed their support for the campaign. Talib Hussain (Lib Dem, Sparkbrook) said:

"The people of Sparkbrook and of Birmingham in general deserve safe, healthy food. There is no proof that GM food is safe or beneficial for people in this country or anywhere else in the World. I support GM-Free Birmingham - we need to take a stand against an industry that puts our health at risk and threatens livelihoods and biodiversity both in the UK and abroad."

Simon Ware, GM Campaigner for Birmingham Friends of the Earth said:

"We are collecting postcards signed by local residents to show Birmingham City Council that people in this area don't want their food, farming and wildlife threatened by GM pollution. We are asking people all over the city to question their election candidates on this issue as well. This is a crucial time in the GM debate because the Government will soon decide whether to allow GM crops to be commercially grown in the UK. If this happens, our right to continue to choose GM-Free food will disappear. Other councils have taken a stand against GM by voting to go GM-free. We want Birmingham to make the same commitment."

Jeremy Evans (Lib Dem, Sparkhill) will be joining campaigners in promoting the campaign on Stratford Road on Saturday. Candidates from all local parties have been invited to take part in the campaign, but local Conservative and Labour representatives have yet to respond.

More information on Friends of the Earth's GM-Free Britain campaign can be found online at www.GMFreeBritain.com

Editor's Notes

(1) Under new European legislation (Article 19 of EU Deliberate Release Directive 2001/18) Local Authorities can request the Secretary of State for Agriculture and the European Commission to provide legal protection of their area from particular GM crops.

(2) South Gloucestershire Council (February), South Hams District Council in Devon (February) and Norton Radstock Town Council in Devon (December 2002). Devon and Lancashire County Councils have also taken significant steps to becoming GM-free.