Ireland can become the most credible genetically modified (GM) free food brand in Europe, a group which included chefs Richard Corrigan and Darina Allen said today.
At a press conference the group welcomed promises in the Programme for Government to ban the growing of GM plants and to introduce GM-free food labelling.
Irish farmers would be very quick to switch to GM-free products when they saw them demanding a premium price, said Malcolm Thompson, president of the Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association.
Dr John Fagan of GMO testing service Genetic ID denied that the cost and supply of GM-feed was prohibitive. GM-free feed was being delivered to the EU from South America but it was just a matter of getting it to Ireland, he said.
The premium on GM-free food would be less than half a cent on a litre of milk and around three cent on a kilogramme of pork, he said
Michael O'Callaghan of the GM-Free Ireland network explained that Ireland was already at an advantage in becoming a GM-free food producer due to its traceability system, lack of contamination from bordering countries and the organic grass-based diet of its cattle and sheep.
Richard Corrigan said Ireland's green image had got smaller, prices had collapsed and GM-free was the future market so Irish farming needed leadership on GM-free production.
Darina Allen predicted that the GM-free market would become much wider than the organic market" I think you'd be surprised at the numbers that would pay for that premium," she said.
