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The patenting of our food supply through biotechnology could be suggested as one of the greatest systems of control ever devised. As the executive branches of North American governments alongside corporate interests push forward the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), it must be noted that reference to \u2018biotechnology\u2019 is littered throughout SPP literature. While Canada\u2019s New Democratic Party (NDP) has taken on the legitimacy of the SPP as a major campaign, it became clear following last week\u2019s comments by MP Alex Atamanenko, that the ability to politically challenge this system of food control is running into more hurdles.

There are, however, community-led alternatives \u2013 GE-Free Zones. Last week\u2019s broadcast concluded with a sampling of audio clips from the first GE-Free Kootenays meeting that took place in Nelson, BC in November 2007 when 23 local residents and politicians gathered together to discuss the creation of such a zone. This broadcast continues in more depth and explores more of the dialogue that took place during that meeting, and in doing so, seeks to create better understanding of how communities can begin taking such concerns into their own hands.

We also spend time learning of similar efforts being forged in one of the last areas of North America still free of genetically engineered crops \u2013 The Yukon.

Guests

Tom Rudge\xa0\u2013\xa0GE-Free Yukon\xa0(Whitehorse, YK) \u2013\xa0Tom is a steering committee member of the\xa0Society for a GE Free BC. He is a Director of the\xa0Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), a Founding Member of the\xa0Fireweed Community Market, the leader of the\xa0Whitehorse Slow Food Convivium. Tom has been around since the beginning of the organic food movement in the Yukon, and is part of\xa0Growers of Organic Food Yukon\xa0\u2013 a chapter of the\xa0Canadian Organic Growers. He has a degree in Agriculture, and operates a certified organic farm \u201cAurora Mountain Farm\u201d.

Jessica Stevenson\xa0\u2013\xa0Researcher,\xa0Greenpeace Canada\xa0(Vancouver, BC) \u2013\xa0Greenpeace Canada has been running an ongoing campaign titled\xa0\u201cSay No to Genetic Engineering\u201d. The organization has commissioned a number of polls, among them one that indicated British Columbians overwhelmingly demand labelling of foods that contain genetically-engineered ingredients. Greenpeace opposes the release of GE crops and animals into the environment based on the precautionary principle. They advocate interim measures including the labelling of GE foods and the segregation of GE crops and seeds from conventional and organic seeds. Greenpeace supports the 58 recommendations made in 2001 by the expert panel of the\xa0Royal Society of Canada. They also oppose all patents on plants, animals, humans and genes.

Voices

Angela Reid\xa0\u2013\xa0Deputy Leader,\xa0Green Party of British Columbia\xa0(Kelowna, BC) \u2013\xa0Angela has run as a Green Party candidate in four elections, two provincial and two federal, between 2001 and 2006. In the spring of 2006, Angela was appointed to the Federal Council of the Green Party of Canada (GPC), and soon after was elected as a Councillor at Large during the GPC\u2019s August Convention in Ottawa. Angela is also the CEO of the GPC\u2019s Kelowna Electoral District Association, and was recently appointed the Okanagan Regional Representative for the Green Party of British Columbia. She operates\xa0Tigress Ventures\xa0\u2013 providing consulting services for environmental and socially oriented businesses.

Gord McAdams\xa0\u2013\xa0Councillor,\xa0City of Nelson\xa0(Nelson, BC) \u2013\xa0Gord has worked as an Ecologist for BC\u2019s Ministry of Water, Air and Land Protection. In 2005, he was fired for bringing confidential government documents to the BC Supreme Court in support of a court action brought by the West Kootenay Ecosociety. The documents showed that the Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection had made \u201can unauthorized exercise of his statutory power\u201d when he favoured a developer by agreeing to move an access road in Grohman Narrows Provincial Park. The government documents clearly stated that the new road would bury nests and kill eggs of endangered painted turtles in the Park. On December 11, the Campaign for Open Government and the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association presented Gord with the Whistleblower Award for 2007.