Greenpeace destroys GM wheat

[philw]

Greenpeace destroys GM wheat

Jessica Nairn

Updated July 14, 2011 15:56:01

Video: Greenpeace protest video (ABC News)
Greenpeace protesters have broken into a CSIRO experimental farm in Canberra to destroy a crop of genetically modified wheat.

In the early hours of this morning a group of Greenpeace protesters scaled the fence of the CSIRO experimental station at Ginninderra in the capital's north.

Greenpeace says activists were wearing Hazmat protective clothing and were equipped with weed string trimmers.

They say the entire crop of genetically modified wheat has been destroyed.

About half a hectare of GM wheat is being grown on the site, as part of Australia's first outdoor trials.

No genetically modified wheat strain had ever been approved for cropping in Australia before.

Last month the CSIRO received permission to conduct Australia's first trial in which humans will eat GM wheat.

The wheat's genes have been modified to lower the glycemic index and increase fibre to create a product which will improve bowel health and increase nutritional value.

Animal feeding trials of up to three months have been conducted, with human trials at least six months away.

Greenpeace says it has taken action because of concerns over health, cross-contamination and the secrecy surrounding the experiments.

Campaigner Laura Kelly says the Federal Government needs to put an end to testing GM wheat in Australia.

She says parts of the United States and many countries throughout Europe have already rejected the crop, and Australia should do the same.

"No one is looking after the health of Australians. Julia Gillard isn't standing up to foreign GM countries to protect our daily bread so Greenpeace has to," she said.

CSIRO chief director of Plant Industries Jeremy Burdon says the organisation is still assessing the extent of the damage.

He says it is a setback to an important global food security program.

"Until we actually know what the assessment comes out at it's hard to say but if it sets it back by a year it's a significant amount of effort by those people involved," he said.

ACT Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury used to work for Greenpeace and says he is not surprised the group has taken such action.

"It's always very controversial these sorts of actions, but you have to stand up for what you believe in sometimes," he said.

"Greenpeace has clearly formed a view that the best way to both draw attention to this issue and to potentially protect the human food chain in Australia is to take this action."

Mr Rattenbury says Greenpeace has a track record of breaking the law to highlight problems.

"I've certainly been involved in action in the past where Greenpeace has broken the law and that has been necessary to highlight what we've considered at the time to be a greater issue than perhaps a simple trespass," he said.

ACT police have confirmed they are investigating but have not released any further information.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-14/20110714-greenpeace-gm-protest/2794272


last time I checked Protests were more about standing around with signs yelling things or chaining them selves to trees,

going in and destroying something is more like vandalism

[Pathfinder]

HE'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MikeBjerum]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-14/20110714-greenpeace-gm-protest/2794272


last time I checked Protests were more about standing around with signs yelling things or chaining them selves to trees,

going in and destroying something is more like vandalism

Criminal trespass and felony destruction of property 

[tt11758]

Criminal trespass and felony destruction of property 

Trespassers will be shot.....survivors will be shot again!!

[philw]

Criminal trespass and felony destruction of property 

correct, 

however think they will get away with it

and greenpeace are loving the attention

bet there donations just went up

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

There is a simple way to avoid Genetically Modified products if you don't trust them.

Step 1.  Don't buy them.

Hate to suggest any new laws, but I think product labeling laws are the way to let folks make their own informed decisions.

[Pathfinder]

There is a simple way to avoid Genetically Modified products if you don't trust them.

Step 1.  Don't buy them.

Hate to suggest any new laws, but I think product labeling laws are the way to let folks make their own informed decisions.

Good point, Solus, but Monsanto and the other GMO producers are in so deep with the agencies that are supposed to be regulating them that they find ways of sneaking the GMO foods in regardless. For example, have you ever noticed just how much stuff has corn syrup in it? The product itself may not be GMO'd, but what about the corn that produced the corn syrup?

Same thing with wheat. We have a company near me that produces certified non-GMO wheat, but plants and nature being what they are, it is only a matter of time before every plant out there carries the genes from GMO plants. And then Monsanto et al. can (and have) sue you for producing their trademarked and copyrighted gene.

[r_w]

Patented genetics are a really bad thing. 

Greenpeace are eco terrorists.  Just like democrats are econo terrorists.

[tombogan03884]

All food crops are genetically modified, I don't see the big deal with using modern methods over the methods of selective breeding that have been used since the birth of agriculture.

[Pathfinder]

All food crops are genetically modified, I don't see the big deal with using modern methods over the methods of selective breeding that have been used since the birth of agriculture.

Tom, we ain't talking about hybrids between plants here. We are talking about splicing fish genes into your veggies (you do eat you veggies, right?  ) so the plant can absorb Roundup and not die (that's what the cutesy marketing phrase "Roundup Ready!" really means), whereas the weed next to it will die and not absorb nutrients, thereby increasing the yield per acre.

It is also about copyrighting the gene, and then trespassing on people's property to steal samples of their corn, and if the gene sequence is found in that corn, suing the land owner for copyright violations, even though the farmer thought he was planting non-GMO or non-copyrighted grains. This is not fantasy, it has already happened.

It is also about taking grain samples from around the world, some going back as far as 4000 years, and then copyrighting them, and forcing the people in that country to either cough up cash for copyright violations, or only buying seed stock from the vendor that now owns the copyright to the grain your family has been growing for generations.

You city people, I swear . . . . .