New anti-GM campaign launch - Stop the Crop!
www.stopthecrop.org
In the last 15 years only two GM crops have been authorized for cultivation in Europe. This was a result of public rejection and successful opposition by the environmental, social and farmers movements. However, we are still faced with around 25 GM crops in the pipeline that are close to getting approved, many of them resistant to (multiple) herbicides, and Bt-crops. There is also a GMO-supporting European Commission, less encouraged national governments and intransparent ways how these decisions are taken.
Therefore, we are launching a new campaign on Monday 18 March to stop new GMO approvals for cultivation in the EU: Stop the Crop! A campaign website will go online - www.stopthecrop.org - that we hope will become a key tool in the fight against new GM crop approvals in the EU. It will in fact be a relaunch of the StoptheCrop website, and will not carry the identity of only one or a few organisations.
This project was initiated by Friends of the Earth Europe and Corporate Europe Observatory, and is supported by the European Coordination of Via Campesina, EEB, Genet, Inf OMG Romania, Food and Water Watch, GMWatch (UK), SaveourSeeds (Germany), SlowFood Germany, Slowfood Italy, Bioforum (Belgium), Oikos (Belgium), Climaxi (Belgium), AIAB (Italy) and Firab (Italy).
This website will contain:
- A campaign video (a trailer and a longer version) focusing on the disastrous impacts of GM crops, in particular herbicide resistant ones, both in food/feed and for people living in the areas where they are produced - examples are the US and Argentina.
- Basic texts explaining what is wrong with GM crops, and more in particular the ones that are in the pipeline: mostly herbicide-resistant crops and insecticide-producing (BT) crops.
- Take action petition tool. This will not be active right from the start. People visiting the site will be able to register their email address to be kept updated, but a petition to national governments is not in place yet. This will happen on a critical moment, for instance as soon as the first GMOs that are now in the pipeline are actually on the agenda to be voted, or any other opportune moment. We are still in the process to collect the right contact details of ministries in all 27 EU member states. If you can help with that please contact [email protected]
- Campaign tools and resources, that people can use to inform and equip themselves more
We hope that as many groups as possible across Europe will start promoting the Stop the Crop campaign as widely as possible!
What you can do as organisations:
1. Spread the website and campaign video as much as possible in your network, by email and social media, from 18 March onwards
- Please promote the Stopthecrop-site on your website and encourage your members/network to promote it. If you would like to be listed as a supporting organisation, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].
- Use the social media tools Facebook/twitter to like and disseminate the video, website, campaign tools that you can find on the website. Please use #stopthecrop for twitter.
- Don’t forget to also “like” and spread our facebook site. https://www.facebook.com/StopTheCrop
2. Alert interested media in your country.
You can use text and quotes provided in the attachment, as you see fit. Of course it's always a good idea to adapt text and quotes to the situation in your country.
In addition, a special "Video News Release" has been prepared by ITN Productions (UK), with voiceovers available in German and French. If you are interested in using this to approach mainstream media, please see further information below.
3. Translations
We are working hard to have at least some translations ready in French and German on Monday 18 March. However, more translations - also subtitles for the campaign video - are very welcome. Please contact: [email protected]
4. Add news stories
We are collecting news stories on GMOs and GM approvals in your countries. Please provide us with stories (from the last 6 months) containing a few lines summary in English, the rest of the story can be in your language. Please contact: [email protected]
We hope you will join the campaign in massive numbers!
Friendly greetings,
FOEE and CEO