[deek]

A couple of the comments left on the Independent’s web page (in response to the article) struck a chord with my cynical mind: -

“…If GM is a scam that just generates profits for Monsanto and increases the unknown risk of some catastrophe happening, and they should pay a heavy price”.

“I had always suspected that the “real” advantage of GM crops was that the growers would always have to go back to the “rights owner” e.g. Monsanto, for more seed and supplies for each new crop. If this were true could there be some “connection” between the US government support of GM development, and lobbyists for Monsanto and “friends”?

If I may quote from a book written in 1992 by the highly respected biotech author Brewster Kneen;

“Biotechnology remains firmly entrenched in the service of national competitiveness, and the industry is as clear as ever that ethical issues, public concerns, and government regulation must not be permitted to stand in the way of corporate progress. Canada cannot afford to fall behind its major international trading partners in the development and commercialisation of new crop varieties, improvements to animal products and advances in food technology, warns the National Biotechnology Advisory Committee, calling for a balance to be struck, between regulation and promotion, equity and efficiency, protection of the public and the environment, as well as the furtherance of private interests and economic growth.”

It would appear that little has changed since the publication of Brewster Kneen’s book, other than the biotech corporate sponsors have changed their focus from protecting their Canadian interests to securing a world wide monopoly for their GM products by driving out all competition (Non-GM crops) along the way. In today’s modern phraseology – redundant biological technology being superseded by manmade technology.