GE Free BC
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
GE Free BC is a non-profit organization based out of Vancouver British Columbia Canada which consists of a coalition of several organizations and hundreds of individuals. The general purpose of this organization is to stop the adoption of GM food products.
Contents
Goals
-To bring legislated mandatory labeling of all GM ingredients in foods (in Canada)
-To ban the growing of GM products in British Columbia
-To educate the public on the alleged harms of consuming and producing GM products
Campaigns (current and past)
Mandatory labelling of GE foods in British Columbia (current)
On March 13, 2007 Greenpeace launched the "Right to Know" campaign supported by GE Free BC [1],[2]
Ban Terminator Campaign
Ban Terminator Campaign is a grass roots campaign fighting to keep terminator seeds under a UN moratorium. Terminator technology refers to plants that have been genetically modified to render sterile seeds at harvest - it is also called “Genetic Use Restriction Technology” or GURTS. Terminator technology was developed by the multinational seed industry and the United States government to prevent farmers from saving and re-planting harvested seed.[3]
GURTs is the official name for Terminator technology that is used at the United Nations and by scientists. It refers to technologies that, in their design, provide a mechanism to switch introduced genes on or off, using external inducers like chemicals or physical stimuli such as heat shock.[4]
The UN Moratorium was reevaluated on March 31 and the Moratorium was upheld [5].
Source: Ban Terminator website
GE Free BC is working on the national Ban Terminator Campaign in November and December 2006, and January and February 2007. They are currently collecting signatures and planning to meet MPs in 25 of the 36 BC Federal Ridings, and the Yukon.
GE Free Kootenays
City of Nelson Passes GE-Free Resolution
November 3, 2008: "The City of Nelson does not support the cultivation of genetically engineered plants and trees in the Municipality of Nelson and further that council will not purchase for its own operations GE plants or trees. The City of Nelson agrees to revisit this as pertinent new information becomes available that affects this resolution and further that the City of Nelson shall forward copies of the resolution to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Union of BC Municipalities, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, CropLife Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, local MLA and MP offices and any interested and related groups for comment."[1]
The resolution is not a 'ban' but a declaration not to use GE plants in the municipality. Municipalities do not have the power to ban such activities. Other municipalities have joined but after accepting the resolution Grand Forks withdrew its name. [2]
