By Nick Britten
The campaign for genetically modified food will receive a significant
boost when Country Life, the influential countryside and property magazine,
calls for its widespread introduction to help feed the world's starving.
In a hard-hitting editorial, the magazine argues that for the
Government to ignore GM crops is "immoral" and "criminal".

Climate change, the huge rise in the cost of food and a worldwide
population explosion are causing problems that embracing GM food could help
alleviate, it adds.

Mark Hedges, the editor of Country Life, told The Daily Telegraph that
people could no longer ignore the issue and accused politicians of being too
"short-sighted".

He added: "People need feeding. Either you find a way of doing that or
let them starve."

He said in his editorial that with the world's population expected to
grow to nine billion, "we shall need different kinds of plants - more
productive, multi-tasking - and need them quickly".

He added: "In a hungry world, the refusal of a rich and well-fed
country such as Britain to exploit its agriculture to the full could soon be
regarded as immoral.

"Places where deeper boreholes have sucked the land dry will need
drought-resistant crops, if they're to grow any crops at all. Where too much
water has been abstracted from aquifers, allowing seawater to seep in, there
will be a demand for saline-tolerant plants."

He said the long-term future of the world "looks far from bright",
adding: "Wars could break out over water.

"Flooding and desertification could cause huge movements of people, on
a par with those experienced during the Dark Ages.

"We're running short of oil; before long, we may find ourselves
running short of metals, too. Our children and grandchildren will be hard
pressed to meet the enormous challenges that face them. But GM technology
has the potential to alleviate some of the dangers.

"Future generations will think us crazy, or criminal, not to embrace
it."

GM food involves altering a plant or animal's DNA to ensure it
contains certain qualities. But concern over its contents, safety, and
criticisms over labelling have led to it being shunned by shoppers.

Clare Oxborrow, a food campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: "We
have heard a lot of claims from the industry how GM food will help climate
change or poverty but the simple fact is it has failed to deliver. There is
no evidence to support Country Life's claims."

Jonathan Matthews, of GM Watch, said: "This is exactly the kind of
crisis narrative the industry likes to put out.

"We have heard the promises of drought-resistant crops for years but
they are nowhere to be seen. Current issues like the grain price increases
enable the industry to peddle this scaremongering."



[www.telegraph.co.uk]