Activists destroy Leeds University potato trial

A TRIAL to develop a genetically modified potato that could save the UK potato industry £50million a year and benefit farmers worldwide has been destroyed by activists after just three weeks.

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UK: Government takes fresh look at GM crops

Genetically modified crops could be grown in Britain on a wider scale as a means of dealing with the global food crisis, it was revealed today.

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UK: Genetically-modified crop field destroyed by eco-warriors

Eco-warriors have destroyed an entire crop of genetically modified potatoes - wiping out vital research to help end famine worldwide.

No one has claimed responsibility for the destruction of thousands of the spuds in a field near Tadcaster, North Yorks.

But Environment Minister Phil Woolas, who had sanctioned the trial by scientists at Leeds University, last night launched a furious attack on the "gutless" group behind the incident.

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Benn Gives Go-Ahead for New GM Potato Trial

Ministers have given permission for thousands of GM potatoes to be grown in Britain, a decision that is bound to provoke a new confrontation with environmentalists.

Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for the Environment , has agreed to let scientists at Leeds University cultivate the potato, which has been engineered to resist eelworm, in a trial over the next three years in a test field near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. The GM Freeze protest group is considering taking legal action.

The move follows repeated clashes over a different experimental GM potato, modified against blight, in Britain last year. Trials had to be abandoned following protests by environmentalists and local farmers.

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Genetically-Modified Foods: How Safe Are They To Eat?

Since 1994, when grocers began selling the Flavr Savr, a genetically-engineered tomato bred to stay firm after harvest, many people have worried about the potential risks of consuming bioengineered food.

Few trends in food and nutrition elicit greater interest. Every week, it seems, some new study or research finding is released adding to a controversy that shows few signs of going anywhere. Since much of the under-developed world of the Southern Hemisphere is, literally, starving, the future of public policy regarding genetically modified foods has yet to be decided in most cases.

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Heritage vegetables aren't necessarily the best

It is interesting to leaf through seed catalogues from the early 19th and 20th centuries. They often include pictures of white-coated scientists in their laboratories, surrounded by test tubes. The fact that science lay behind these new products was a big selling point.

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GM food: Monster or saviour?

I have to confess, until now the whole debate about genetically-modified (GM) food has pretty much passed me by. Most of my career has been spent as a foreign correspondent. But last summer I returned to the UK to start a new job with the BBC. I now glory in the title Rural Affairs Correspondent.

A big part of my new brief is to report on farming. It is my (sometimes painful) duty to attend agriculture conferences and seminars. I also meet many farmers on their farms. And over the months, time and time again the issue of GM has been raised.

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