Creed hits out at Prince Charles comments on GM ‘disaster’

A CLAIM by Prince Charles that a global shift towards genetically modified crops would be a disaster was criticised by Fine Gael’s agriculture and food spokesman Michael Creed, TD.

But the comments by the Prince of Wales were supported by environmental groups including Friends of the Earth, who said he had hit the nail on the head about the damaging false solution that GM crops present.

Prince Charles, who started an organic food brand 18 years ago, argued in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that “clever genetic engineering” by gigantic corporations would cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time.

“If they think this is the way to go... we will end up with millions of small farmers all over the world being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness,” he said However, Deputy Creed said people are living in an age where food security is emerging as a real political issue.

“Advances in the study of bio-technology cannot be ignored as a potential solution to the food security issue, and must be explored openly and comprehensively before any conclusion may be reached.

“For an individual as high profile as Prince Charles to scaremonger in this manner is unhelpful to the GM debate,” he said.

Friends of the Earth campaign director Mike Childs said GM crops will not solve the food crisis.