UK supermarkets support GM soy

[Drjones Profile]

http://www.gmwatch.eu/latest-listing/1- ... -exercise-

Bad news! The supermarket chains Waitrose, Asda and AB Agri have joined with Marks and Spencer in the RTRS - "Round Table on Responsible Soy" the greenwashing exercise for GM soy monocultures run by WWF and others, including Monsanto and Syngenta.


Please write to the following:
tim.oliver@abagri.com
Chris.Brown@asda.co.uk
mike.barry@marks-and-spencer.com
john_clague@waitrose.co.uk

[Drjones Profile]

Good site-
http://www.bangmfood.org/

[Alexrubic Profile]

To paraphrase another 'Doctor' (with regard to soy - GM or not):
"Beans are evil - bad, bad beans"!

[Drjones Profile]

To paraphrase another 'Doctor' (with regard to soy - GM or not):
"Beans are evil - bad, bad beans"!

What are you sayin Alex,you don'e believe i am a doctor?...
Anyway i've seen much information that soy is not all it is hyped upto be,as for say butter beans,cannelinelli beans etc being 'bad' not much...

[Drjones Profile]

Reply from marks and spencer:


Dear Mr Tait,
Thank you for taking the time to contact Mike Barry regarding our participation in the RTRS.

I would like to take this opportunity to confirm our position on both responsible soy production and genetic modification.

We are the only retailer in the UK to continue to maintain a non-GM policy for all of our food ingredients and animal feed for fresh meat, poultry, farmed fish and standard milk. Our non-GMO feed policy has been in place since 2000 and our food ingredient policy has been in place since 1999.

To be very clear, we remain wholly committed to our non-GM policy and will continue to only purchase non-GM soya.

We see the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) as an important forum to raise our concerns around the damaging effects of soya production to forests and communities.

Given GM soya comprises 70% of the world’s soya production , the RTRS must act now to develop a robust global standard applicable for responsible GM and non-GM soya production that will prevent any further damage.

We are leveraging our public stance on non-GM sourcing and our membership of the RTRS to signal to non-GM soya producers that there is a continued demand from M&S and other retailers for their produce, and that they should stand firm on its production.

Kind regards

Pityful reply from Asda:
ASDA has taken the decision to join the RTRS to be present at discussions on how a future soya supply chain can be structured. In this we are following a pattern where we joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) again to understand the supply chain and its operation.

It is important to address all the issues associated with crop production.

I hope you are aware that ASDA, with other European retailers, worked with NGOs and the Brazilian industry and Government on Amazonian deforestation to grow soya. We were one of the first companies to call for a moratorium on this.

Whether the RTRS is successful or not, it is important to engage with this debate.

regards,