GM Food Website Section coming soon...

By Muzammal Hussain

GM Food has been a hot issue for quite a few years. Back in 1996, GM Soya products were being imported unlabelled into the UK, which meant that it made it difficult to avoid eating them.

The anti-GM movement began to grow, and the issue exploded when Dr Arpad Pusztai announced results of GM feeding trials he had been conducting on rats and said that he would not eat GM foods. It seems that politicians got involved, and he was gagged. It was announced that he was confused, but this turned out to be false.

A few Muslims were involved in campaigning against the genetic modification of our foods at the time, including myself through writing letters, giving talks, producing literature, mobilising for a march and putting together the occasional article.

The GM debate is coming back on the scene with the UK government seemingly pretty pro-GM. As well as debate around GM, there are some bigger questions: For example, "What kind of food systems are best placed to provide people with sufficient good quality food, while also nurturing the land, and empowering and nurturing local communities?";

and "Given that there is more than sufficient food to feed everyone on the planet, why are people going hungry?"

Maybe, if we reflected on questions like this, leaving aside corporate interests, we would move closer to understanding viable solutions to key challenges.

Over recent months, at WiN, we've been working hard to develop a GM Food & Islam section for our website. Within it, we look at fundamental questions like the ones above. We also raise important questions for Muslim communities, for as a social group we must take responsibility for having largely turned a blind eye to the wider context around food and farming.

There is a need thus for serious reflection on the state of the world, as well as on ethical principles outlined in teachings that we hold dear. We are in the final stages before we launch the website, and hope that it will not only be informative but will also encourage dialogue and positive action.

Stay tuned!...