Madam, - At a recent meeting of the Irish Food Writers' Guild the members studied the excellent statement of position issued by Eurotoques at their seminar "Forging a GM policy for Ireland" on April 26th. It was decided heartily to endorse their position and add our further comments.
From the first suave introduction to the public consciousness of the benefits of genetically modified foods the guild has shown cautious alarm towards scientific procedures designed to net huge profits for chemical companies and retail outfits without offering the slightest benefit to the customer.
A long shelf-life brings a gleam only to the eyes of supermarket owners. Experience shows that larger yields mean poorer taste. And the proliferation of genetically modified crops means the eventual wiping out of local species adapted over millennia to local conditions.
Ireland's reputation throughout the world as a clean, green island has been earned by a good deal of effort over many years. Tourism and agricultural and food exports are hugely important to us. Planting GM crops could seriously threaten all of these.
Experience in countries where GM crops have been planted has proved that cross pollination does occur, contaminating conventional and organic crops alike.
Our attitude is honed by our previous dismay at the incautious acceptance of scientific procedures that have proved hugely detrimental to the environment and to public health. The use of DDT very nearly caused a global catastrophe while netting global companies a tidy fortune. Even closer in time came the reassurances of scientists about the impact of BSE on the human population. "No evidence that it could cross species" we were told - even while the scientists knew that it had leaped to cats, to antelopes, to zoo animals.
Can we trust these highly paid employees of multinational firms? No. Recent evidence of the suppression of unfavourable laboratory test results gives resonance to this No.
Without any public consultation the Irish Department of Agriculture seems bent on joining the rush of the Gadarene swine towards lifting the moratorium on introducing these crops to Europe. Remember that the Gadarene swine finished up running to their death over a precipice. - Yours, etc.,
HONOR MOORE, President, NUALA CULLEN, Chairperson, Irish Food Writers' Guild, Maretimo Gardens East, Blackrock, Co Dublin.