Sir, - In his Irishman's Diary of August 19th Kevin Myers attacked me for saying that I was pleased by the recent destruction of a Monsanto-owned GM sugar beet trial in Shanagarry, Co Cork. Last year, I was among a group of 30 mainly Irish people, aged four to 85, who in full view of gardai, Monsanto's security firm and the media, destroyed some of Monsanto's GM crop in Arthurstown, Co Wexford.
My opinion that GM crops pose a serious risk to public health and the environment has come through my work as a journalist. Since 1997, I've written regularly on the subject for Hot Press magazine. My research has included interviews with the pro-GM lobby and extensive reading of their literature, both of which have left me unconvinced of the supposed benefits of GM food and alarmed by the methods and motives of the companies involved.
Good research is blatantly absent from Mr Myers's rant against the "witless fanatics" trying to prevent our land and food supply from being contaminated by genetic pollution. Shallow, misinformed thinking abounds. For example, Mr Myers slates my opinion - which is widely shared - that the presence of GM poses a risk to the development of organic agriculture in Ireland.
If he had done his research, he would know that British organic farmers living within six miles of a GM crop must undergo inspection for cross-pollination with GM plants before they can get their organic certification. He might also have read about the 10,000 boxes of American organic tortilla chips which had to be withdrawn from the European market because the organic maize they were made from had cross-pollinated with GM maize growing nearby. GM genes spread. Millions of acres in the US are now planted with GM crops, and the organic sector is seriously concerned about its future. Are we going to go the same way here, destroying our potential to become Europe's leading organic grower at a time when organic food is one of the fastest growing business sectors in the world?
Another serious mistake in Mr Myers's misinformed piece has to do with a seemingly innocuous wild plant called sea-beet. GM sugar beet - which this year has actually "bolted", or sent up flowers - can cross-pollinate with this wild beet relative. Once this happens, GM genes have escaped beyond anyone's control, spreading out into nature and potentially into the food chain. But according to Myers, there's no risk of this happening, because sea-beet is "an uncommon little vegetable to be found in remote briny places."
If he knew what he was talking about, he would know that, far from being rare, sea-beet is very common in coastal areas. He is also mistaken when he says that sea-beet grows "far from the fields where sugar beet is reared". The truth is that sea-beet can be found growing a mere 800 metres from the GM sugar beet in Arthurstown, Co Wexford, and that Shanagarry in Co Cork is only a few miles from the coast. The risk of genetic pollution spreading from these sites is actually very real, and that is why environmentalists, including myself, have tried to destroy them.
As a consequence of the 30-strong anti-GM action in Arthurstown last year, seven of us were charged with criminal damage and faced trial this spring in New Ross, Co Wexford. The two-day trial heard a thorough-going airing of the debate - and though the facts were found proven against us, Judge Donnacha O Buachalla applied the Probation Act, commenting on both our honestly held belief that the GM crop posed an immediate danger and the peaceful nature of our protest. We were recognised as conscientious, well-informed people acting on our beliefs and morals. Yet Mr Myers dismisses all this, questioning the wisdom of the judiciary in granting us probation, and using language like "witless fanatics", "organised criminality" and "vandalism" - which, like the epithets in a Monsanto press release, attempts to criminalise the growing number of people who feel morally compelled, through what they know, to take a stance against GM in our food and agriculture.
GM poses an urgent threat to our food security. That's why I'm not ashamed to express my relief when I hear that another GM crop has been destroyed. I feel as pleased as would anti-nuclear campaigners when they hear that another nuclear power plant is being shut down.
The future of our children's food supply is now at stake. Please let's see sense, and encourage organic rather than genetically modified, chemically treated food. And let's have responsible journalism on this vitally important issue. - Yours, etc., Adrienne Murphy,
Wilton Place, Dublin 2.