GMOs? It’s Time for People Power!
If you want to keep GMOs out of the UK, here’s where to begin…
GMOs have been with us for nearly 20 years. In the early 90s a very visible public and media campaign helped keep them out of our fields and off our plates in the UK and the rest of Europe. But that kind of public engagement has largely petered out in the UK thanks to a concerted effort by biotech companies to make average people feel like they are too stupid to join the discussion.
I talk to a lot of people about GMOs and know that the majority have legitimate concerns, on all kinds of levels, about the UK’s proposed embrace of GM crops and foods. But these concerns have no real outlet. So I have decided to do something about that.
GM Free Me is a visual petition. Not just another selfish selfie, the campaign ask is simple. Upload a photo of yourself holding the printable GM Free Me card, or if your are so inclined the e-card for tablets and iPads, and join this lively ‘national portrait gallery’ of real people of all ages and backgrounds who are tired of politicians, regulators, pro-industry scientists and media pushing GM technology into our farming and food system whilst ignoring the concerns and opposition of average people.
Once your photo is uploaded it goes onto a map of the UK divided into political constituencies. The more of us in each area, the more power we have and the more pressure we can all bring to bear locally and nationally. So why not get your family, friends and colleagues involved too? Then share it on social media (and send it to your MP – there’s a button for that onsite!) and encourage others to join in so we can really make a noise.
Does it take longer than posting yet another angry tweet about GM? Yes. But not much longer, and by adding your face to the gallery you are showing that people power is alive and well and determined to stop the UK becoming a GM nation.
GM Free Me is the first salvo from a larger campaign called Beyond GM – a new independent initiative set up by experienced campaigners and journalists (myself included).
Beyond GM’s goal is to raise the level of the debate on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the UK and elsewhere, at both the local and national level. It aims to bring some vitality back into GM campaigning as well as broaden the discussion about GMOs beyond the abstract, and often impenetrable, scientific and academic arena and out into the public arena.
More on this later – in the mean time please add your face and voice to this lively initiative.
