AGM

The GM Freeze Dream Team, October 2024.

Changing the future: Our Annual General Meeting…

Our AGM this year was held in the stylish subterranean meeting space of Kraft Dalston in London.

As well as the usual business we had time for some preliminary discussions about our Strategic Plan. This was devised in 2019 so it feels like a good time to review it, and we’ll be consulting further with our members, supporters and possibly wider stakeholders in the coming months. In the meanwhile, our existing Strategic Plan can be found on our website. If you have a moment and the inclination please do take a look and get back to us with your thoughts – leonie[at]gmfreeze.org.

… And a chance to connect, reflect and strategise

In the afternoon we gathered with wider networks for a discussion on ‘Changing the future: Civil society action on food & the environment’. It was great to get a real mix of organisations together in one room, and to have a bit of space to think strategically.

Taking a glance backwards, Sophia Greacen from Green Alliance talked us through the Retained EU Law (REUL) bill, which almost meant thousands of laws governing social and environmental protections would be pushed off a cliff by an arbitrary Brexit deadline. As it was the default cliff edge was removed, thanks to the hard work and determination of civil society organisations, including those in the Greener UK coalition.

To map the new political landscape, firstly Gareth Morgan from the Soil Association gave us an analysis of how the Labour government is shaping up on the environment; the review was mixed. Then Rosalind Stevens from the Civil Society Alliance debriefed us on tensions that have arisen between the UK and devolved governments as a result of post Brexit regulatory strategies, including REUL, and how that impacts on food and environmental standards.

Looking forwards, Carum Basra from Unchecked UK gave us a heads up on the protections movement, a loose but growing alliance of organisations that are defending the public rights, standards and laws which protect our environment and society from harm.

Carum Basra with Unchecked UK’s deregulation timeline.

Taking inspiration from the Landworkers’ Alliance gatherings, we democratically decided the rest of the agenda. We discussed how to balance grassroots work with influencing policy, and considered the question, why are we losing? There are big, systemic problems that undermine so much of our work, yet work we must!

An intersectional lens

Before any of this though, Jo and Sola from Odd Arts delivered an interactive session on intersectionality, challenging us to think about how our different personal, social and
political identities combine, overlap and intersect to shape our unique experiences of life.

Our different experiences of things like power, access, discrimination and oppression creates advantages and disadvantages. This understanding provides us with an ‘intersectional lens’ which can help ensure that our work uproots inequality rather than entrenches it. We took some time to put those glasses on. The Guardian Media Group’s stories on GM rice in the Philippines illustrate why we at GM Freeze believe it is so important to decolonise the narrative on genetic modification in particular but also on wider issues in relation to food and the environment.

Thanks to the Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust for supporting the event.

A gathering of minds.