Here’s a link to an article in NRC Handelsblad, a Netherlands daily newspaper that really hits the nail on the head about the damage being caused by wacko groups like Greenpeace. They really are terrorists who not only endanger the lives and hard work of people who are actually helping our environment while trying to increase food production but they are also contributing to the very things they say they oppose. Here’s a couple of excerpts:

Unfortunately, none of these genetically modified crops are being cultivated in Europe. Their introduction is opposed by Greenpeace and other environmental organisations. Even experimental fields, where the impact of GM crops on the environment are tested, are destroyed on a regular basis by environmental groups. Most recently, two test fields run respectively by the agricultural university of Wageningen and the potato starch company Aveve in Groningen met with that fate.

How much longer are politicians going to allow themselves to be held hostage by the environmental movement? How many more food riots do we need before the environmental movement is ready to let go of its dogmas? If we want to meet the goal set by the G8 to double food production by 2050, the time to invest in biotechnology is now.

This is just another example of why I never got very excited about Earth Day. When groups like this have used it to promote their emotionally charged, scientifically lacking agendas I find it hard to support it. Having said that though I think all of us in agriculture need to be more involved in the online conversation which is where we can have more impact than ever before. Now we don’t have to depend on co-opted mainstream media channels to tell our story. Kind of like I’m doing here!