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Prince warns of GM 'disaster'



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Published Date: 13 August 2008
By Craig Brown
THE Prince of Wales has warned the development of genetically modified crops risked creating "the biggest disaster environmentally of all time".
In a passionate intervention on the issue of GM food, Prince Charles accused multi-national corporations of conducting an experiment with nature which had gone "seriously wrong".

He said: "What we should be talking about is food security not food
production – that is what matters and that is what people will not understand.

"And if they think also that somehow it's all going to work because they are going to have one form of clever genetic engineering after another then again count me out, because that will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time."

Prince Charles also said relying on gigantic corporations for the mass production of food would threaten future food supplies, adding that small farmers would be the victims. He said: "If they think this is the way to go we will end up with millions of small farmers all over the world being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness, then you count me out. I think it will be an absolute disaster."

However, the GM food biotech industry has countered past criticism of it, stating that the technology can be used to tackle hunger and poverty by delivering higher yields and reducing the use of pesticides.



The full article contains 237 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 13 August 2008 12:51 AM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: GM food
 
1

Guga II,

Rockall 13/08/2008 01:28:07
That parasite is obviously worried that people will stop buying his brand of vastly over-priced products.

In any event, if we only talk about food security and not food production, how does he propose to overcome the world wide food shortage?

It is numpties like him, with their conspicuous consumption, that are liable to cause the biggest environmental disaster of all time.
2

Mercutio,

FALKIRK 13/08/2008 03:23:02
More guano from Guga.
3

henrymanchester,

UK 13/08/2008 03:23:09
Aw cmon give the guy a break.

Dont you feel sorry for him just a little bit?

He talks to vegetables for Christ's sake!

4

Guga II,

Rockall 13/08/2008 03:33:45
#2. If the parasite want my guano for his garden, he'll have to pay for it.

#3. He should stick to talking to vegetables, they are on the same level of intellect as himself.
5

Graeme,

Guangzhou 13/08/2008 05:40:28
Gaga,

Rich one from you who made all his money from the butcher’s apron directly or indirectly. Hypocrisy at its best.

Pathetic wee man.


6

John Cameron,

St Andrews 13/08/2008 07:55:57
Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before we were treated to yet another disaster scenario from the Great Society of Pseudoscientists. Never before in human history have we been under terminal threat by so many unlikely phenomenon. Genetically modifying crops is actually called "farming". We have been involved in this activity for over 10,000 years and it has generally been thought to be "a good thing". Of course, we should treat the remarks of Prince Charles with due awe and reverence. He is, after all, a front man for My Lord Porritt of the Monster Raving Green Loony Party. Dear Jonathan has been responsible for many of the disaster scenarios to hit the headlines in recent decades. I am sure there are many more in the pipeline.
7

MacGillicuddy,

13/08/2008 08:48:52
#6
Some sense at last!
8

MacGillicuddy,

13/08/2008 08:56:52
#4
Please do NOT insult our vegetables!
9

Unimpressed one,

13/08/2008 08:57:57
I thought nanotechnology was going to be the "biggest environmental disater of all time" according to the rabid prince? Maybe if the guy didn't have such a vested interest in promoting hos own over-priced organic veg, he at least could claim then to be unbiased, though uninformed. But then he has no scientific understanding so maybe this new age guff should be expected.
10

Florestan,

glasgow 13/08/2008 10:53:00
If the Green brigade are so up in arms about GM crops why do they never say anything about GM babies? Surely the uncontrolled experimentation on human life is also anti-environmental? But would that not be a trendy enough cause for the tree-huggers?

The Pill is another environmental issue, surely? All those chemicals being pumped into womens' bodies - the health scares from cancer to heart attacks associated with it, but from the green crowd? Nothing....
11

Saoghal Beag,

13/08/2008 12:26:46
Florestan, and what about your toothpaste, full of organophosphates that change the gender of fish. maybe you are just not listening.

The issue with GM is the reliance on a restricted supply from a corporate entity which will lead to farmers being locked into contracts which they can not excape and then increasing prices as Monasanto or another recoups their investment. this will force many farmers out of business and add additional upward pressure to food prices.
12

JoeMcT,

BlairsFantasyIsland 13/08/2008 13:52:54
GM food is just another CON from Companies who want to "screw" the market.
13

Florestan,

glasgow 13/08/2008 14:02:02
#11

Yeah, you seem to have a lot to say about fish and foxes and whales and trees, but what about human babies in the womb? They are far more important than everything else, but on GM babies, eugenics etc, we hear sweet FA from the green lobby.
14

wheels5894,

Fife 13/08/2008 14:58:35
How on earth do this man get to be noticed at all. have he may have an organic business but I bet it doesn't mean he knows anything about it.

It is clear he doesn't understand GM at all - is rice engineered to have vitamin A going to cause disaster or save children's eyesight? The man needs to go back to uni and learn some biology.

Meanwhile, isn't Organic farming going bring about disaster? There is just no way the available land, farmed organically, can supply the food the world needs. Perhaps Charlie should stop wasting his land and grown as much as the land can to help with food shortages.
15

Tommy Trout,

Alicante, Spain 13/08/2008 15:15:46
Come on, be fair to the man, a 2nd or 3rd in History must make him a fully quallified GM expert.
Personally, I'm open on the subject, but I've yet to hear an argument from anyone other those with a little bit to no knowledge or an axe to grind on both side of the argument.
16

Florestan,

glasgow 13/08/2008 15:28:23
As far as I can see GM crops save lives in the Third World, while GM babies leads to the horror of eugenics. It seems that people need to sort out their priorities here.
17

Thomas Campbell,

New York 13/08/2008 16:21:37
"...unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness"

Gosh, I though His Royal Higness was talking about present-day Scotland!
18

Neil,

Glasgow 13/08/2008 17:44:58
In the rest of the world there are millions of acres devoted to GM crops & NONE of the prophesied disasters or indeed damage of any sort, has happened. GM is clearly going to be a major industry of this century which is why the team that developed Dolly were welcomed in Sincapore.
19

Florestan,

glasgow 13/08/2008 17:52:43
So cloning humans will be OK then?
20

Saoghal Beag,

13/08/2008 17:56:45
florestan, what have i to say about foxes? Huamans are as much part of the environment as any bird or tree. Whether it is methyalted mercury, TBT, contaminated leachates...etc humans can be at risk and are so through their own actions.

What on earth is a GM baby? There are no such things.

What about third world farmers given GM crops. No viable seed the following year they ahve to return to the suppliers and gain new seed, probably at smnall cost. but quickly over the years that cost will survive, the small farmer can't afford the prices and loses his income, no longer able to support his family. You go tell them that GM and control of food production by Monsanto and their cronies is a good idea.

This is not about the science, this is about the corporate giants profitting from the poor.
21

Saoghal Beag,

13/08/2008 17:58:11
oops not will survive, will increase
22

Florestan,

glasgow 13/08/2008 18:33:19
#20 "What on earth is a GM baby?"

Did Parliament not vote recently to legalise human/animal embryo experimentation? This isn't very environment friendly? What about the push for "perfect" humanity, ie; the screening out of all imperfections from hare-lips, club feet and blindness? Genetically modified human beings - the brave new world is here already and the green trendies remain schtoom....
23

hertscot,

13/08/2008 18:47:27
#22 and the rest,

The real problem with GM is the terminator seed, it produces a sterile plant,forcing farmers to pay for more seed, when previously they could harvest it.

Right wing farming for profit, but then you think theonly thing on earth worth saving is the fly by night homosapien!
24

Florestan,

glasgow 13/08/2008 20:18:15
#23

luddites and anti-humanitarians...

take a good look at yourselves sometime. I really think you are loonies....
25

Saoghal Beag,

13/08/2008 21:29:19
Florestan, your understanding of biosciences is limited. the chimera produced from the combination of human cells and other organisms will prvide cells for reasearch but will not be used to produce full term babies. These cells will never leave a lab, how is that environmentally unfriendly?

The push for perfect humanity, well we have lived with screening for genetic variations for many years. Try having a baby and refusing to have your embryo screened for Downs syndrome. So nothing new there and again nothing to do with GM crops. Recently advances in genetics and cellular biology have enabled us to identify markers for certain genetic afflictions which are frequently fatal. This enables the selective prodction of saviour siblings, not a bad thing i think, but maybe you would like to argue that point with parents of a dieing child?

The above is irrelevant to GM crops, and as Hertscot pointed out it is about the exploitation of gullable farmers. Do you honestly think that monsanto will not recoup their investment and make a profit?

You argue against scientific advance yet support the exploitation of small scale farmers being sold a pig in a poke by a corporate monster and you have the audacity to call otehrs anti-humanitarian? Do you also support supply mothers in the third world with formula milk as soon as their child is borne to ensure that the do not lactate? That is the sort of corporate exploitation you support with GM crops.
26

,

13/08/2008 23:04:06
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
27

Jock MacSprog,

14/08/2008 01:01:00
Is this guy a scientist ? Dont think he even has a University degree actually. So why are we even humouring him ?
28

Corstorphinery,

Edinburgh 14/08/2008 08:39:50
#23

Terminator gene - whooooo scary name! This feature in seed has been around decades - F1 hybrid maize does the same thing.

Why is it such a problem? If you were a breeder releasing a new variety which cost millions to develop would you be happy to see farmers save seed year after year without paying for it? When seed is released into third world areas there is no equivalent of DEFRA or SEERAD to collect royalties on home saved seed - the only option is to require famers to buy new seed every year.

They can, of course, buy conventional seed instead and save the progeny of that. But presumably there is an economic benefit in buying GM or hybrid seed because it yields better and costs less to grow.

But then that is not as cool or snappy an argument as 'forcing peasant farmers to pay for seed'.
29

M.Corleone,

2nd Vatican State..... Coatbridge 14/08/2008 10:15:10
I'm no loyalist by any means but well said Chuck
30

Em,

15/08/2008 15:12:32
#28

You should watch a documentary called the future of food, one of the issues it addresses regarding GM crops is that of patent law. The U.S patent office for around 200 years did not allow patents on living organisms.
Now with the reforms in patent law companies such as monsanto are allowed to patent genes and the law states that whatever plant that gene goes into the company holding the patent for that gene also holds ownership of the plant containing it.
This has resulted in many farmers loosing ownership of entire farms due to Monsanto taking farmers to court because their GM crops have been found growing among farmers crops as a result of cross pollenation. Many of these farmers have had to give up their farms in order to pay monsanto even though the farmers didn't want Monsanto's GM crops in their fields.

 

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