“We don’t want GE rice!”
is the clear message that has rung loud
and clear in China. Here at the Greenpeace
office in Beijing, we have been getting
more and more calls and emails from parents,
housewives, college students, seed sellers,
and even farmers, all with the same question:
How can I avoid genetically engineered (GE)rice?
We can feel the anxiety and anger about
GE food in these calls, and now it is even
clearer. A recent survey we commissioned
showed that 69% of mainland consumers and
79% of Hong Kong consumers do not want GE
rice.
Rice is the most important
staple food for Chinese people. It plays
an important role in Chinese culture,tradition,
history and social life, with a history
of 7,000 years of growing thousands of rice
varieties. As babies we are fed rice porridge
and rice is an intricate part of nearly
all our meals. Unfortunately, rice, our
daily food, is now at risk: despite the
people’s rejection, GE rice is on the edge
of commercialization.
As rice is such an important
part of Chinese life, it is an extremely
strong message that consumers are giving
by showing their rejection of GE rice so
clearly. Greenpeace commissioned a consumer
survey in several cities and areas of China
in 2010. The survey results in Beijing,
Shanghai and Guangzhou show that 69% of
consumers would choose non-GE rice and 77%
would choose baby food without GE rice.
In Hong Kong, 79% of consumers say “NO”
to GE rice. Rejection is also spreading
to other parts of China - a follow up survey
clearly shows that in Wuhan and Changsha,
in Central China, 65% of consumers would
choose non-GE rice, and 83% would choose
non GE rice in baby food.
So far, the seed sellers’
and farmers’ rejections of GE has not been
listened to or respected. The entire process
that would lead towards GE commercialization
in China has taken place behind closed doors.
The Chinese people were not even informed
that two GE rice lines have received biosafety
certificates, a step towards commercialization
Working for Greenpeace
and towards a world free of GE, I don’t
want to have to answer the calls of angry
and anxious people because they may soon
not be able to avoid GE food. I urge the
government to carefully listen to these
mothers’ and farmers’ voices. I urge the
government to stop ignoring the voice of
the people. GE rice should be stopped immediately.
Government needs to take the threat GE crops
pose to the environment, health and food
security seriously, and stop this experiment
with people’s food.
+ More
Sharks ask Princes:
if you found Nemo, would you kill him too?
By the time you read
this, I'll be at the head office of Princes
in Liverpool where a frenzy of sharks is
demanding an end (a fin-ish?) to the dreadful
fishing methods that kill other marine species
like sharks, rays and even turtles which
Princes relies on for its tinned tuna.
Some of the unlucky
sharks killed in tuna nets are hanging from
the iconic Liver Building, while other sharks
are protesting outside. Of course, they're
not real sharks, but Greenpeace volunteers
are reminding everyone why Princes - the
largest supplier of tinned tuna in the UK,
responsible for one in every three tins
of tuna sold - came last in our UK tinned
tuna league table. There's even the Jaws
theme booming out of a loudspeaker.
Despite receiving over
75,000 emails from Greenpeace supporters
around the world - not to mention the attention
drawn to the fishing industry by Hugh's
Fish Fight - Princes has done little to
improve its sustainability practices. Oh
sure, there are some labelling changes in
the pipeline, but that doesn't change what's
in the tin and how it got there.
The fact remains, Princes
still relies on fish aggregating devices
(FADs) used with purse seine nets and they
know that's a sure-fire way to haul up plenty
of bycatch along with the tuna. Hence the
sharks outside Princes's head office - some
of them may look cuddly and cute, but they
mean business.
But while we're outside
head office, I'd like your help to come
up with a new advertising slogan for Princes.
I don't think the current one - "Yours
to enjoy" - gets across what the company
is really doing. It's fairly bland and meaningless
however you look at it, but given what's
going on behind the scenes it doesn't really
do justice to the mass destruction of ocean
life, which is what the Princes brand really
stands for.
Does it explain how
Princes is refusing to move to more sustainable
fishing methods in contrast to other suppliers
like Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and
Waitrose who have done so, for instance?
Or that Princes is the only tinned tuna
company in the UK still selling bigeye tuna.
Why does no one else want to sell bigeye
tuna? Because scientists have classified
it as "facing a high risk of extinction".
And what is a PR agency
like Citypress (@citypress) doing trying
to defend the dreadful practices of Princes?
There's only so far you can spin a fishy
tale about Princes having "strict standards"
when it comes to sustainability.
I know we can do better
than "Yours to enjoy". Send us
your new advertising slogan for Princes.
It will be emailed to Princes, and we'll
feature some of the best ones here and on
Twitter.
It's time Princes changed
its tuna once and for all. Add your voice
to the growing movement demanding Princes
stop canning ocean destruction here.
