Greenpeace Climbers shut down GE feed mill

Greenpeace activists today shut down the Inghams/Harvey Farms feed mill in Hamilton, demanding that the Aussie owned poultry and feed company stop importing genetically engineered (GE) soy for animal feed.

A brace of chicken suit clad activists climbed and perched atop two 6-metre high tripods to block the entrance to the Inghams mill. Another three climbers scaled the grain silos and hung a large banner reading “Inghams – GE Feed Not Wanted!”

AgriQuality tests showed in June that Inghams soy meal is 85% contaminated with Monsanto’s GE soy (1) from the USA.

“Inghams continue to ignore the public’s wish for GE free food (2),“ said Greenpeace GE Campaigner Steve Abel.

“Inghams soy is the single biggest source of GE contamination in the New Zealand food chain.”

“As a major animal feed supplier, through their subsidiary Harvey Farms, Inghams GE soy fouls many sectors of the agricultural industry that would otherwise be GE free,” said Abel.

In 2001 New Zealand’s biggest importer of soy meal for feed, Tegel/NRM shifted to a non-GE crops in feed policy.

“It’s high-time that Inghams catch up to the non-GE standard that Tegel has set for New Zealand poultry and stock feed,” said Abel.

“In key export markets, such as Europe, there is an increasing demand for non-GE fed animal produce such as meat and dairy. If soy importers such as Inghams were to switch to non-GE soy, any uncertainty about the GE feed status of New Zealand produce would be eliminated,” said Abel.

Growing genetically engineered crops threatens conventional production and the environment, and GE foods are insufficiently tested and unwanted.

(1) Roundup Ready soy DNA content, in relation to the total soy DNA of this [Inghams] sample, is 85% (+/- 10%), AgriQuality, 10 June 2003. Full results can be viewed at: www.greenpeace.org.nz/campaigns/ge (2) Independent research done for Tegel found that 75% of consumers wanted chickens that had not been fed GE soy meal, NZ Herald, 29 August 2001.

© Scoop Media