vita activa
We are driving through Europe with two horses and a carriage. 8,000 km in 15 months, from Lake Constance through France, along the Spanish coast until the South tip of Europe. On the way back we will travel through Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and after Berlin back to Lake Constance, for the big finale of our long voyage.
A long journey, not just for us, but also for our two Irish
Cob horses.
But this is no pleasure voyage, no vacation in the sun. Everywhere
along our route we visit farmers and sleep in our carriage on farms.
Together with renowned environmental organizations and scientists we
want to learn more about the present situation in Europe concerning
industrial agriculture, organic farming, the European Union and its
agricultural policies.
But in particular, we are concerned about genetically engineered organisms (GMO’s).
Food is the very substance of our lives. There’s a reason people say “you are what you eat”.
And don’t we live in splendid times? Throughout the year we can find fresh tomatoes and peppers in the supermarkets. The shelves are always full, there’s plenty of food to be had for all. We live in wonderfully convenient times.
But the price for this convenience is high. In order to deliver the full variety of fruit and vegetables year-round, farmers are forced to develop ever more sophisticated methods of production. The production of food has been developed into a high-tech industry, covering all aspects from growing, harvesting and weed control, right up the seeds themselves.
And without all this technology such an intensive form of agriculture would not be possible. To increase yields quickly and inexpensively, huge amounts of pesticides and artificial nutrients are employed. At the expense of our water quality and health.
And in the next step, nature itself is altered.
To reduce costs for pesticides, the first generation of genetically engineered plants received their own license to kill: a bacillus-gene was built into the genes of corn crops. The toxins produced by this “BT-Corn” also kills off butterflies and bees, but is claimed to be perfectly harmless for human consumption.
The newest products from the research laboratories go much further. Fish-genes in strawberries, human genes combined with pig-DNA – the imagination of researches knows no limits.
And reality, it seems, neither. What may sound like science fiction, is already reality. Many of these newly constructed organisms end up unlabelled on our plates: you can not tell whether genetically engineered crops were used to produce the steak you are eating.
But if the present trend continues, a labeling of genfood will not be necessary any more: soon the artificial plants from the chemistry labs will have mixed themselves so thoroughly with our natural plants, that nobody can be sure how much of the meal comes out of the lab.
And is therefore patented. The ingredients in our kitchens an experiment of Big Industry. “You are what you eat” – do we want to be like this?
Every step we take towards genetically engineered foods is irreversible. Once brought out into nature, these seeds will continue to grow and spread beyond anyone’s control.
If we are to do something about this, it must be
done right here and right now.
During our voyage through Europe we will document the current extend of
contamination by GMO’s. We will take samples and send them to
scientific institutions for analysis. In that way, we will create a map
of GMO-contamination in Europe.
Our experiences and the current state of affairs concerning GMO’s will be shared and discussed with many people along our route, including students, politicians, consumers and farmers.