GM Freeze at the ORFC: A trip down memory lane
Well it’s back to earth with a bump this week after the whirlwind of the Oxford Real Farming Conference. It was great to get some key people from the UK anti-GMO campaigns of old all in the same room and sharing their memories and insights. Some things you just won’t read in articles or academic papers!
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Credit for the best pics to Hugh Warwick.
Spanning decades and engaging a colourful and creative crowd, the anti-GMO campaign definitely lends itself to being remembered and celebrated. It was good fun collecting together all the materials for the Vintage Seeds of Resistance exhibition, and editing together a wee film of some of the protests and actions.
And in today’s world of huge, intractable problems, it is so good to remember that people can and do have made an impact. Anti-GMO campaigns in the UK and Europe stopped an entire global industry in its tracks. In areas of the world that have been less successful, we have since seen the ever-increasing power of the now-merged GM and chemical companies, with farmers in some areas being sued if their land is contaminated with GM crops by nearby fields. Land and health has been ruined by glyphosate, the herbicide which the majority of GM crops that are grown to date are resistant to. For a time.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed photos, cuttings, memories and films to the exhibition and workshop. We are very much hoping that this is the start of a project, so do continue to get in touch if you have anything you’d like to share or if you’d like to host our Vintage Seeds of Resistance exhibition!
Thanks also to Emergent Generation for collaborating on the event and the Oxford Real Farming Conference for tolerating our theatrics!
Here’s to another 30 years of resisting the commodification of life.
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Credit for the best pics to Hugh Warwick.
