Chefs accuse Government of double standards over GM food conference

A GOVERNMENT-sponsored conference on agricultural biotechnology opened at University College Cork amid protests by leading chefs at what they see as the promotion of genetically modified foods.

The conference on agricultural biotechnology was opened by Billy Kelleher TD, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

The chefs’ organisation, Euro-Toques Ireland, accused the Government of providing a platform for the promoters of GM food technology

“The Government has made no effort to hold an open debate on this issue,” said Lorcan Cribbin, commissioner general of Euro-Toques Ireland and head chef of Dublin’s Bang Cafe.

“Now it is providing a platform for promoters of the technology. Why is taxpayers’ money being used to fund the promotion of technologies which consumers reject and which is acknowledged by the programme for Government as being bad for Ireland?”

Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, is the main sponsor of the event. Other sponsors include Enterprise Ireland and the Food Safety Authority, along with biotech firms such as Monsanto.

“GM technology hands over control of our food chain to huge corporations who care only for profit,” said Mr Cribbin.

However, Dr Charles Spillane, head of the Genetics and Biotechnology Laboratory at UCC and chairman of the ABIC Programme Committee, said new technologies were needed to produce enough food to feed the world’s population.

“The neglect of agricultural research and development &investment... over the past two decades has led to a situation where our ability to produce sufficient food to feed the world’s population is now in growing doubt,” he said.

“By 2020 we will need to produce 36% more food with less water, less fertiliser, less chemicals, not much more land and more extreme weather patterns. We are not on target, and will need to harness every available technology, including GM and other biotechnologies, if we are to even approach such food production targets.”

Conference chairman Prof Jimmy Burke, head of Teagasc Oak Park, said the gathering would offer a great platform to showcase Ireland’s growing life sciences industries. “Various technology foresight reports for Ireland have identified biotechnology as one of the core technologies which our country and Irish industry must now embrace.

“These reports have also identified the agri-food sector as one that can benefit significantly from the tremendous potential offered by modern developments in biotechnology.”