MINISTER FOR the Environment Phil Hogan has been urged to facilitate a debate on the proposed genetic modification of Irish vegetables by Teagasc.
The call was made at the 25th annual Doolough to Louisburgh Famine Walk, in Co Mayo, the theme of which was “Corporation, Crops and Control: Seeds of Life or Seeds of Strife”.
Organised by Afri (Action from Ireland), the event commemorates a trek by starving tenants on March 30th, 1849, through Doolough valley to Delphi, where they hoped the Poor Law Guardians would provide food. They were told there was no grain, and many died on the return journey.
Speaking to the hundreds of walkers on Saturday, Afri co-ordinator Joe Murray said the organisation had “serious concerns about the genetic engineering of vegetables, both globally and nationally”.
“We are aware there are proposals by Teagasc to begin a genetic modification project, and it is just awaiting a decision by the EPA later this month about the granting of a licence. We are now calling on Minister Hogan to initiate a countrywide debate about the issue because Ireland’s reputation for producing clean green food is intact and must be protected,” he said.
To the strains of The Bag of Spuds by musicians Cormac Breathnach and Tommy Hayes, Mr Murray reflected on the genesis of the walk, which aims to “remember the Great Famine not just in a nostalgic or self-indulgent way, but in a way that relates to contemporary issues about hunger”. Walk leader Anita Hayes, a founding member of Irish Seed Savers, said “food and water security were the two most important issues of our time”. She said genetic modification of vegetables was “disempowering” and further exacerbated people’s “disconnection from nature”.