Rally heads for research park
Campaigners against GM crops are planning a rally which starts outside the Forum tomorrow.
They’ll travel by tractor, bike and bus to Norwich Research Park, to deliver some organic potatoes.
The Sainsbury Laboratory on the Park are currently carrying out a trial into genetically-modified potatoes.Dubbed “The Spuds Don’t Work”, tomorrow’s rally is organised by the campaign group, Stop GM. At midday, campaigners will meet outside the Forum, before travelling in convoy to Norwich Research Park. At the John Innes Centre, speakers will address the rally from The Soil Association, The GM Freeze and Stop GM, among others.
The rally is ahead of a day long camp on Sunday at Norfolk Show Ground, giving those involved a chance to organise the next stage of their campaign.
The NRP say they invited the lobbyists to take part in a debate in their conference centre, but their offer was turned down. Professor Dale Sanders, John Innes Centre Director said: “A debate would have enabled the scientific community to listen to any lingering concerns and address them in a meaningful way.”
The trial being carried out at The Sainsbury Laboratory(TSL) involves research on genes from wild potatoes, to see if the genes will provide resistance to blight. According to TSL, the economic cost of potato blight to farmers is an average of £60 million a year.
One Comment to “Rally heads for research park”
Comment
Professor Sanders comments are a little misleading, we from the very beginning welcomed dialogue with the Sainsburys Lab, in fact the head of the program for which Professor Sanders works addressed our rally on Saturday as he was invited to do over a month ago. After this address he spoke with the media from the rally site. As far as we are aware the Sainsburys Laboratory has never offered a platform to alternative viewpoints at any of their public events on GM. So perhaps this statement reflects a concern to protect their generous public funding rather than a genuine interest in debate.