Take the Flour Back! Mass action against GM wheat

Sunday 27th May 2012
Public day of action against the Rothamsted genetically modified wheat trial.

We need local, community-based solutions to the climate crisis. Despite being much trumpeted for some years now as an answer to climate change, no GM drought tolerant or ‘climate ready’ crops have made it to the table anywhere in the world. Nor do we think, even if ever possible, these would be a solution.

The increasing control of corporate agribusiness over our food system is leading us away from sustainable food production. The rich diversity of local seeds, which have adapted to local climate conditions over hundreds of years, is being lost, as the use of patent-protected GM seed increases. As pests become resistant to GM and to toxic pesticides, more and more chemicals are being used. We reject these false solutions. As a matter of survival, we must decrease our dependence on the industries that are destroying the planet.

Corporations working in collusion with government elites are at the heart of the exploitation of communities of ordinary people everywhere. This is at its starkest in the plunder of the resources of the global south by the wealthy economies of the global north. We acknowledge that these wealthy economies owe ecological and social debts to the people of the global south. The ecological debt caused by the extraction, use and abuse of resources such as fossil fuels, minerals, forests, and marine and genetic resources generates huge social damage whereby local communities are exploited physically, politically, economically, culturally and emotionally.

Repair to the biosphere, and to the communities where such extraction has taken place, cannot be delivered simply by payments of money. It will require the wresting of wealth and resources away from elites into popular control. Particularly, land and resources need to be returned to the control of communities in the global south and indigenous peoples.

This wheat trial is not needed, nor is it scientific research - it's simply gambling with our future. The only responsible thing if Rothamsted won't decontaminate the site, is to do it ourselves. We'll see you there on 27th May.

For more info nearer the time, check back to www.taketheflourback.org or contact us at info [AT] taketheflourback.org - Meet Rothamsted Park, Harpenden, Herts (30 mins from London by train) 12 noon on 27th May. At 1.30pm we’ll take a 20 minute stroll on public footpaths to the trial site.

UPDATE -

Meet Rothamsted Park, Harpenden, Herts (30 mins from London by train) 12
noon on 27th May. At 1.30pm we’ll take a 20 minute stroll on public
footpaths to the trial site.
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Transport is being organised from various parts of the country. For more
information, see - http://taketheflourback.org/local-transport/ Frequent
trains run from London to Harpenden – the journey takes 30 mins from St
Pancras.

Please read the legal briefing, available at -
http://taketheflourback.org/legal/

*What to bring*

You should bring:
Water
Food
If you plan on attending the decontamination, please bring bags to cover
your shoes

If you can, please bring these:
A copy of the legal briefing - http://taketheflourback.org/legal/
An OS map - http://taketheflourback.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/map.jpg
Banners
Placards with messages on
Props
Seeds to swap
Bread and cakes to share (+ tasty stuff to go with that)
Bakers outfits, aprons, bakers’ hats
Messages and photos to tie to the fence around the wheat trial
Gloves
If you are able to bring your own biohazard protection and dustmask,
please do

Please be aware that you may be searched by police on the way to, or at,
the meetup point.