Food minister Owen Paterson backs GM crops

Robert Winnett and James Kirkup

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, made the remarks as ministers prepare to relax controls on the cultivation of GM crops, which he said had “real environmental benefits”.
Some senior Government figures privately believe that the technology — which can increase crop yields and prevent disease — is essential in assuring Britain’s future food security and to avoid dependency on imports.
Any move to allow the use of GM crops could be highly controversial, but Mr Paterson dismissed critics of the technology as “humbugs” and said that the case for GM food now needed to be made “emphatically”.
The comments are likely to alarm opponents of GM food, who fear that the crops can cause environmental damage and even be harmful to human health. Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, made the remarks as ministers prepare to relax controls on the cultivation of GM crops, which he said had “real environmental benefits”.
Some senior Government figures privately believe that the technology — which can increase crop yields and prevent disease — is essential in assuring Britain’s future food security and to avoid dependency on imports.
Any move to allow the use of GM crops could be highly controversial, but Mr Paterson dismissed critics of the technology as “humbugs” and said that the case for GM food now needed to be made “emphatically”.
The comments are likely to alarm opponents of GM food, who fear that the crops can cause environmental damage and even be harmful to human health.
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"Food minister Owen Paterson backs GM crops", La Clé des Langues [en ligne], Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029), octobre 2012. Consulté le 25/04/2024. URL: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/archives/archives-revue-de-presse/food-minister-owen-paterson-backs-gm-crops