News | A nation of moaners
A recent international petition to the Codex Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology called US proposals to allow food contaminated by undefined 'low levels' of any GM material in our food to be rejected.
The Task Force' response to this petition did not entirely removed the threat, but was successful in significantly watering down the content of the draft being considered. As the Consumers Union of Japan noted “Codex meetings provide unique occasions, in which international NGOs with observer status can participate in debates like a country. (The) presence of NGOs and the voice expressed by the world citizens can have a big influence on the Codex international food standards, which in turn will be translated into national legislation of each member country.” So, moaning can work.
The petition was signed by at least 58 anti-GM organisations world-wide. Noticing that some countries seemed to have several organisations active enough to be aware of, and to have signed, the petition, led gmfreescotland to try an interesting exercise.
We asked the question: relative to population size, how many anti-GM groups are making their voice heard in different countries? The answer (albeit very crudely arrived at) surprised us:
| Country with more than one active anti-GM group (descending order of population size | Approximate population (in millions) | Number of active GM groups per 100 million people |
| U.S.A | 298 | 2.3 |
| Russia | 143 | 2.1 |
| Japan | 125 | 2.4 |
| Germany | 82 | 2.4 |
| South Africa | 47 | 21 |
| England | 50 | 8 |
| Senegal | 12 | 16.7 |
| Georgia | 5 | 40.0 |
| Scotland | 5 | 60.0 |
The most obvious trend here is that smaller countries have more internationally noisy groups.
Do smaller countries complain more than larger ones? Is communication, and the awareness this generates, greater in smaller countries? Or what?
The Consumers Union of Japan invites the “many NGOs concerned with GM issues to take an interest in the Codex Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology and to join us.”
What're you waiting for? We're aye whingin.
SOURCE
- Japan Resources Jan-Mar 2007