Media Release - re Solanum/GMOs

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 10:31:59
To: islandfarmer@islandpress.pe.ca
From: Sharon Labchuk <slabchuk@isn.net>
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EARTH ACTION

81 Prince Street  Charlottetown  PEI C1A 4R3   Tel: 902-621-0719   Email:
slabchuk@isn.net


MEDIA RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 13, 1999


Government Investment in Biotechnology Squanders Tax Dollars

Charlottetown - Continued investment of taxpayers' dollars in Solanum, a
provincial government " arms length" corporation that promotes the growing
and marketing of genetically-modified (GM) potatoes, is senseless and
irresponsible, says Earth Action spokesperson Sharon Labchuk.

"Europe's biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, has advised several thousand of the
world's largest investors to sell their shares in leading companies, like
Monsanto, involved in the development of genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) because consumers don't want to buy their products," says Labchuk.
"Monsanto, Solanum and the PEI Department of Agriculture and Forestry are
partners in a venture to promote growing and exporting GM potatoes. There
are now 5,000 acres of GM potatoes grown on PEI."

Deutsche Bank's first research report, dated May 21 and entitled GMOs Are
Dead, said: "We predict GMOs, once perceived as a bull case for this
sector, will now be perceived as a pariah."

"The message is a scary one - increasingly, GMOs are, or in our opinion,
becoming a liability to farmers," it adds.

The bank's latest report, published in July under the heading Ag Biotech:
Thanks But No Thanks, says the concerns of European consumers are real and
GMOs could become an "earnings nightmare" for Monsanto."

Since the report was circulated to investors, shares in companies named
have fallen against a rising trend in stock markets.

"Europeans have soundly rejected GM foods. Some large British supermarket
chains refuse to carry GM foods and citizens are ripping plants out of the
ground.  Farmers and ordinary citizens in Britain, France, India and other
countries are boycotting and destroying GM crops," says Labchuk. "On this
side of the ocean, the US government and the biotech industry are preparing
for a consumer backlash.  US agriculture secretary Dan Glickman warned
farmers that they could be left with unwanted crops, and that small farmers
could become "serfs on the land". The writing is on the wall.  People don't
want to eat genetically modified food, we don't want mega-corporations
controlling the food system, and we aren't prepared to accept the risks to
human health and the environment that these corporations would force upon
us in the name of profit."

Labchuk points out the province's web site says: The government of Prince
Edward Island has identified life sciences, and in particular
biotechnology, as a priority sector for future economic development.  

"Our advice to government is wake up and pay attention to what's happening
to the biotechnology industry in the rest of the world.  Spending tax
dollars on Solanum and other misguided GMO promotions is just pouring money
down the drain," she says.  "The organic sector is growing by leaps and
bounds.  This is where we should be investing our efforts."

- 30 - 

Contact: Sharon Labchuk   902-621-0719



********************************
Sharon Labchuk
Earth Action
81 Prince Street
Charlottetown, PEI  C1A 4R3
Phone: 902-368-7337 / 621-0719
Fax: 902-621-0719 
slabchuk@isn.net



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