Crofters welcome Scotland's GMO ban

Scotland's small-scale farmers have welcomed their government's decision to prevent the growing of G…

Scotland's small-scale farmers have welcomed their government's decision to prevent the growing of GM crops, aimed at enhancing the country's 'clean, green status', among a coalition of green NGOs.

We want to see food for people at the heart of Scotland's vision for agriculture. Diversity of crops and food, farming with nature, not against nature, and short food chains are the keys to Scotland becoming a good food nation.

Farmers will not be allowed to grow genetically modified (GM) crops in Scotland, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead announced over the weekend.

The Scottish Government intends to take advantage of new EU rules allowing countries to opt out of growing EU-authorised GM crops, he said, in effect making Scotland's long-standing and widely supported moratorium on GMOS permanent.

The Scottish Government will shortly submit a request that Scotland is excluded from any European consents for the cultivation of GM crops, including the variety of genetically modified maize already approved and six other GM crops that are awaiting authorisation.

The move has been welcomed by the Scottish Crofting Federation, which represents the nation's small-scale farmers, together with other civil society organisations who penned an open letter of support to the Scottish government:

"We underline the precautionary principle that the Scottish Government upholds - that the potential risks from GMOs to public health and our environment outweigh any potential benefits of the technology. As stakeholders in Scotland's food system, we recognise the importance of protecting and enhancing Scotland's reputation for good, clean food.

"We are aware that many of our major export customers have concerns about GM, while many EU member states including Germany and France are likely to join Scotland in opting out of GM food growing. We note that Scotland's world-class seed potato industry cannot afford any risk to its reputation for high quality seed - which includes many blight resistant varieties developed through conventional breeding techniques."

The letter concludes with a critique of the effects of GM crops and the way they have been used, mainly in the US, Canada and South America, over the last 20 years. The technology, the NGOs say, concentrates power and control in the global food system, with a handful of companies dominating the market for seeds and pesticides makes small farmers run faster to stand still, increasing input costs for seed and herbicides while global commodity prices are falling reduces diversity of food, seeds and plants and the resilience of local food economies has stolen the limelight from other more viable, less risky scientific solutions for more sustainable modes of production and distribution of food.