The GM PR machine has been busy of late, apparently persuading government minister, Phil Woolas, to tell The Independent that 'rocketing food prices and food shortages in the world's poorest countries mean the time is right to relax Britain's policy on use of GM crops.'

In fact, the majority of published research shows GM crops do not increase yields – not surprisingly, as they weren't designed to. The GM industry's professed concern for the world's poor and hungry has been criticised as a cynical marketing ploy to win over public opinion.

The recently published UN IAASTD report, the work of over 400 international scientists, on the future of global food production under the challenges of climate change and population pressure concluded that transgenic GM crops didn't have much to offer – instead promoting an 'agro-ecological' approach. Confirming an earlier UN Food & Agriculture conference's conclusions, the IAASTD report acknowledged organic farming's real potential to help feed the world in an era of increasing oil prices and the urgent need to cut greenhouse gases. The GM industry reps stormed out of the process and their PR machine has been in overdrive ever since!

Links:
» Press release - Gordon does 'a Tony': falls for GM hype
» Press release - New Soil Association report shows GM crops do not yield more - sometimes less
» Report - GM crops - the health effects [PDF, 169 KB]
» Summary of the report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development