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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-09-30 Daily Xml
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GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:37): I would like to continue my remarks on genetically modified foods and talk about food labelling, which can clearly indicate products that may contain ingredients derived from genetic engineering processes and techniques or that employ nanotechnology in their production or packaging. Consistent with the government's moratorium on the commercial production of genetically modified crops, I suggest an immediate end to field trials of genetically modified crops. I believe such a measure is essential to protect farming and food industries from contamination.

The recently released Australian Organic Market Report, released by Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA), clearly shows their growth is due to the big food retailers pushing more volume through; so it is becoming more mainstream. In fact, 91 per cent of Australians say natural chemical-free food is important to them. There are now over 500 different organic lines in fresh and grocery categories in major retailers, with the largest organic sector being fresh fruit and vegetables. I understand the organic industry employs an estimated 25,000 people and, interestingly enough, that organic farmers tend to be younger than non-organic farmers; although I am not sure why that is. We all know also the pressures on suppliers working with the big food chains and that local fresh is definitely the best.

Our state has the capacity to lead Australia in innovative alternative food production and the promotion of a greater appreciation of healthy food. Friends of the Earth and the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre presented a free public forum in Adelaide earlier this year called From Plains to Plate. The event brought together over 700 farmers, health, community and government workers, academics, gardeners, permaculturists, students, environmentalists, educators, the odd politician and citizens to discuss the issue of strengthening South Australia's food systems. It provided the opportunity to examine food and agriculture through a number of streams, including urban planning and growth, agriculture and the environment, public health and food access, education and sustainability, and economics and policy.

I support the call for government partnership in South Australia to increase the potential of urban food production to cultivate healthy, nutritious food close to the communities where it is to be consumed, and more particularly so following my visit to the Aboriginal lands with that committee. It is very important those gardens again become productive, growing bush tucker as well as mainstream or ordinary vegetables, as we know them.

It is also important to reduce carbon emissions and oil dependency while increasing local food security. I have grave concerns about maintaining the segregation between GM and non-GM product, and fear that, in the future, our choice to buy non-genetically modified food and organic food will be severely restricted and will eventually disappear.

I also support the work of local community groups, such as the South Australian Genetic Foods Information Network (SAGFIN), for keeping this issue in the public forum. SAGFIN is a not-for-profit, state-based organisation established in 1998 dedicated to protecting people and the environment from potentially dangerous genetically-engineered foods and crops.

In pursuance of these aims, members of SAGFIN gather to distribute information, host public events, circulate petitions, liaise with the media and make submissions to government at all levels. They work collaboratively with other bodies having similar aims, especially those operating at a national level. They also have a particular focus on genetically-engineered foods and crops, acting as an advocate for community concerns and food and environmental safety.

I have been a member of SAGFIN since 2001—from my first visit with Mr Hans Penning, a local resident, and Dr Kate Clinch-Jones who, coincidentally, will be giving a workshop on exploring the safety aspects of GM food as part of SAGFIN's AGM in Adelaide on Saturday 16 October at the Box Factory, Regent Street, city.

As it happens, 16 October is the United Nation's World Food Day. SAGFIN contends that biotechnology will not solve Third World hunger and that the issues of multinational corporations controlling world food and seed resources may in fact exacerbate it.

Members of SAGFIN have proposed and circulated fact sheets, which talk about genetically-engineered food crops currently approved in Australia, which include soya bean, which appears in soy milk, tofu, soy protein, soy flour, oils, proteins, lecithin and various other food additives. Also corn or maize—cornflower, cornstarch, corn oil, corn protein and syrup, glucose syrup, dextrose and modified starches; cotton—cottonseed oil, vegetable oil, margarine; canola oil (as we mentioned earlier); sugar beet—sugar and MSG; bacterial starter cultures and enzymes; potato and lucerne.

Time expired.

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