Green Options » genetically modified organism

Genetically Modified Crops: A Danger or an Agricultural Right?

Kay Sexton — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:57:38 +0000

Germany is the latest country to object to genetically modified crops. There’s a small but powerful European group battling against the planting of commonly-grown pest- resistant staple foods, and the latest mutiny by the German Agriculture Ministry has resulted in the banning of MON 810 – sold under the trade-name YieldGard, a genetically modified corn variety.

The Agriculture Minister, Ilse Aigner, declared that the Ministry had concluded that sufficient evidence existed to support arguments that MON 810 posed a danger to the wider environment. The crop is grown in less that 0.2% of Germany’s cornfields, but even so, the ban is based on the claim that the genetic modification is harmful to aquatic wildlife.

GMOs Banned from Delaware Wildlife Refuge

Kay Sexton — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:32:19 +0000

The US Fish & Wildlife Service has been told by a Federal Court that it must stop planting genetically modified crops at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge on the west shore of the Delaware Bay. There are more than eighty other national wildlife refuges growing genetically modified crops and this landmark ruling may be used to prevent them continuing the research plantings.

Switzerland Places Ban on the Humiliation of Plants

Meg Hamill — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:48:38 +0000

A new amended law in Switzerland protects the dignity of vegetation.

A law protecting the dignity of plants? Laugh if you will. I’m down on my knees in respect and awe. At last the Western World is realizing the dire importance of taking other species into account.

Recently, the Swiss Parliament asked a panel of philosophers, lawyers, geneticists and theologians to determine the meaning of dignity when it pertains to plants.

Lo and Behold, the team published a treatise on “the moral consideration of plants for their own sake.” The treatise established that vegetation has innate value and that it is morally wrong to partake in activities such as the “decapitation of wildflowers at the roadside without rational reason.”

Over a decade ago, an amendment was added to the Swiss constitution in order to defend the dignity of all creatures — including vegetation — against unwanted repercussions of genetic engineering. The amendment was turned into law and is known as the Gene Technology Act. However the law itself didn’t say anything specific about plants, until recently, when the law was amended to include them.

The obvious question at hand: how does this new ruling affect the production of genetically modified organisms?