"With the adoption of new seed varieties, farmers are losing their genetic resources and the culture associated with it. This is becoming a great source of worry and grief for farmers in...Ghana"
Another reason we should prioritise exploring heritage varieties over developing new GMO ones.
By focusing almost exclusively on "moonshot" technological innovations to produce more food, this initiative does little to address the leading political and economic drivers of world hunger such as conflict, economic shocks, and inequality in food systems.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
The Act only covers England, but Wales and Scotland will lose their power to refuse to sell these products under the Internal Market Act. This has created further tensions in the increasingly fraught issue of devolution since Brexit.
The legislation is not limited to agriculture, potentially paving the way for gene drives and gene editing for conservation. Not only do we have no idea of the impact of releasing this technology into the wild, but it raises ethical questions about how much we should interfere in the natural world.
The gene edited crops will be patented, further concentrating power into the hands of a small number of multinational corporations (who also produce the chemical inputs and have a strong vested interest in deepening the hold of the industrial agricultural system).
The funding going into this new technology far outweighs the funding going into understanding and developing agroecological approaches, which prioritise working with nature to create healthy ecosystems.
Last week Defra said it will lay out the secondary legislation needed for the Precision Breeding Act to come into force by March. This will deregulate gene edited plants in England, with no labelling, traceability or requirement on the developer to ensure that their invention is in the public good.
My main takeaways were to keep building connections and finding synergies, to embrace diversity, including difference of views, and think about language and narratives to make sure it's accessible to all.
It wasn't livestreamed, no. It was a 2-part workshop and I couldn't make the second part so I don't know whether there are any future actions, but the first part was a lot of group conversations about our respective roles in the system and who isn't well represented.
Nature will always adapt. "Solutions" like glyphosate are only ever short term fixes. We need to transition our farming system to one which works with nature, not tries to suppress it.
One of the things I've enjoyed most about being at #ORFC25 is that embodied sense of being part of something. Really enjoyed this workshop to dive deeper into my/our place in the movement, how we can connect, who is missing and how we can build more together.
Interesting session the history of grassroots GMO campaigning, hearing some great stories about protests through the 90s-2000s and reflecting on what's changed now, despite the reality of unlabelled GM products on our shelves being perilously close #ORFC25
So happy to hear Jim Aplin talking about neurodivergence as a "natural evolved part of human biodiversity" at the #ORFC25 opening ceremony.
Passionate words encouraging compassion and understanding of difference makes me feel so much less nervous about being my full self here.
Surely!
Excited to travel to Oxford for #ORFC25 tomorrow.
Join us at 9am on Friday 10th for our workshop "Beyond the Tech Divide: Rethinking Innovation for Agroecology" in collaboration with @ipes-food.org Let's reclaim the innovation narrative in support of diverse, sustainable production systems!
Reading highlight of the winter break was definitely 'Place of Tides' by @herdyshepherd.bsky.social An astonishing story of connection to the land, sea and ducks. I am always seeking stories which invite slowness, and this one really captured the beauty of matching the pace of the natural world.
"Unlike Victor’s secretive experiments, responsible innovation requires openness, inclusivity and a commitment to the long-term health of...living systems."
No plans to bring back 'frankenfoods', but here are some musings on what Frankenstein can still teach us about GMOs.
It's excellent for a 3.5 minute film. I particularly enjoyed the industrial ag visuals throughout.
"Mirror bacteria would likely evade many human, animal and plant immune system responses and in each case would cause lethal infections that would spread without check" Prof Vaughn Cooper
Glad to see the Guardian covering the risks of synthetic biology, one of the next GM frontiers.
"the long-term impact of this move will likely include a significant reduction in the use of agricultural property for large-scale tax avoidance, a closer relationship between the agricultural and market values of land, and greater diversity of land ownership"
“Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact it rains.”
Paul Harvey
#WorldSoilDay
Let's make this a thing! Folks researching the political economy of food and agriculture. Let me know if you should be added to this list!
go.bsky.app/GykU1LD
📢🍱🥴"Stop ripping off families with ready meals"
Our #OutToLunchUK campaign sent out a team of secret diners to assess the quality of children's menus on the high street. soilassociation.org/causes-campa...
Here are some of the key findings and full league table. Any surprises?
"A Colombian Government agency...prohibited [the researcher] and her colleagues from publicly discussing the health risks of sugar, under penalty of a $250,000 fine."
New research on the threats & intimidation UPF researchers face. One of the many ways corporations exert power in the food system.
"The progressive greener dream for UK farming has died"
One of the better of writing I've read post-budget from @herdyshepherd.bsky.social outlining all that farmers are upset about (not just APR - that's just the one that got the public/right wing press' attention).
But we do need legal protection against corporations buying up all the farmland - which is already happening with the financialisation of nature (biodiversity net gain etc). After all, corporations don't have to pay inheritance tax on their assets. 2/2
"If we have serious inheritance tax charges, the price of farmland will fall so much that people will actually be able to enter into farming because farmland will be affordable to people who want to become farmers."
Good analysis by @richardjmurphy.bsky.social on the thorny APR debate. 1/2
A useful article from @scanthehorizon.bsky.social on the recent UNCBD Cali fund decision on Digital Sequence Information. Its unclear how this will affect BigAg/Tech giants as many countries - including the UK - won't make payment mandatory. But its a good direction at least.
Hi everyone, I'm Ayms. Migrating over here in the hope of more kindness.
I'm a freelance food & agricultural systems researcher/policy person, working mainly with A Bigger Conversation/Beyond GM. We critically consider agricultural technologies in the context of food system reform.