On Sunday the 25th of July 1999 thousands of people, including many celebrities such as Emily Lloyd, Maryam D'Abo, Simon and Yasmin Le Bon, Ben Elliott and Jemima Khan, will express their support for organic food and opposition to GM food at Britain's largest ever organic picnic.
Channel 4 actor, Mat Fraser, will compere the event which is being held in the grounds of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London and is organised jointly by Greenpeace, the Soil Association and The Picnic. Entertainment will include live music performances, children's entertainment, displays and organic food tastings.
At 3pm there will be speeches about genetically modified food and organic alternatives. Speakers include: John Sauven, the campaign director of Greenpeace; Patrick Holden, Director of the Soil Association; Lizzy Vann from Baby Organics; and Zac Goldsmith, the Editor of the Ecologist.
At 3.30pm there will be a chefs' "master class" when celebrity chefs will attempt to make the world's largest ever organic fruit salad. The chefs and celebrities will then serve the salad to the public.
The Government itself has admitted that GM crops will contaminate organic crops because the pollen is carried by bees or the wind from GM crop sites to organic ones. The picnic, which is FREE to the public, will be a powerful display of public opposition to GM foods and will send a clear message to Tony Blair that a majority of people in the UK do not want GM food. (1)
"This is an ideal opportunity for people to express their concerns about the health and environmental impacts posed by GM foods and to celebrate the alternative - healthy, organic food," said comedian Matt Fraser.
Greenpeace campaign director, John Sauven added: "Despite overwhelming public opposition, the Government continues to allow the GM experiment to continue. This is our chance to tell Tony Blair that we want GM food and crops banned. It's our chance to tell him that we want the public money that is being wasted on GM technology to be ploughed into modern, organic farming instead."
Greenpeace and the Soil Association have issued a joint challenge to the Government to set a target for organic agriculture in the UK and to at least match the rest of the Europe where 30% of land will be farmed organically by 2010 if current rates of growth continue.
Lack of support from Tony Blair's Government means that the UK lags far behind the rest of Europe with less than one per cent of agricultural land currently farmed organically. This means that the UK is currently forced to import 80% of its organic food because demand is outstripping supply.
