Rural R&D Productivity Inquiry comments
12 July 2010
“Any politician that assures you that genetically engineered organisms and their products are safe is either very stupid or lying”
David Suzuki, geneticist and environmentalist
Facts included
- Hunger has risen from 350 million to more than 1 billion since GM crops introduced.
- The International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture noted that the dominant industrial food production is very vulnerable to climate change, as well as a major contributor to it.
- The US Govt is investigating Monsanto for anti-trust behaviour regarding withholding seed from farmers.
- GM multinationals reap the bulk of profits of intellectual property from research done at taxpayers’ expense. An example is GM cotton where researchers funded most of the efforts but Monsanto applied a hefty technology fee, claiming ownership of the Bt and Roundup Ready genes.
- Data from the industry-backed ISAAA shows GM technology has been stalled for years, with GM production confined to a handful of countries.
- The Senate has heard how CSIRO scientists who oppose GM have been “gagged, under pain of disciplinary action”.
- A survey shows almost one in three UK scientists and technicians are pressured to change findings and results.