Seeds of Distrust - The Story of a GE Cover-Up
Craig Potton, 2002. In good condition.
In November 2000, in the middle of the Royal Commission on genetic engineering, the Government learned that a shipment of GE contaminated sweet corn seeds had been planted in three regions of New Zealand. Imposing strict secrecy, PM Helen Clark took control of the issue and said that the crops must be pulled out. Then the big business lobbying began. Over the following weeks, the pulling up was replaced by a cover-up. Clark's government did a U-turn: the contaminated crops, including thousands of GE sweet corn plants, were allowed ot spread their pollen and then be harvested to sale in NZ and overseas. The rest of the known contaminated seed batch was approved for planting and the public wasn't told... This is a story about the anti-democratic influence of big business, political expediency, abuse of power, manipulation of the news media, misleading a Royal Commission, and above all, a serious breach of trust...