Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

400 peasants, clowns, and reapers liberate Belgian GM potato field

viva patata | 30.05.2011 23:57 | Bio-technology | Ecology | World


The "battle of the potato" field in Wetterem, near Ghent, Belgium, was a resounding victory for anti-GM activists on Sunday (29 May) as members of a crowd of around 400 people broke through police lines and barbed wire fences to destroy an experimental Genetically Modified potato crop.

the plans (field is the small red oblong)
the plans (field is the small red oblong)

crossing the bridge
crossing the bridge

reclaim the fields
reclaim the fields

freedom flies
freedom flies

head on the ground
head on the ground

biohazard
biohazard

worthy
worthy

back in time for tea
back in time for tea


Genetic modification of food crops is currently banned in the French-speaking Wallonia region of Belgoum, and in the Brussels area, but the regional government of Flanders had given the go-ahead for this trial planting. People from across Belgium and further afield, including many "faucheurs volontaires" (volunteer reapers) from the established French anti-GM farming movement, came together under the banner of the "Field Liberation Movement" to put the experiment to an end.

The day started with setting up of a farmer's market and communal kitchen in a sympathetic field across the motorway from the target site. There were briefings, discussions, infostalls, and some interaction with members of a "Save Our Science" counter demo by GM supporters, who came to argue their case that only more agribusiness supercrops can save the hungry of the world from crises of poverty and malnutrition. At 2pm the crowd started moving, led by a big international samba band, across the motorway footbridge to the field of destiny on the other side. The organisers had called for "non-violence" and not to provoke the cops, and the crowd was colourful, noisy, with small children and grown-up clowns in abundance. Truly Luddite in spirit (in all positive sense of that maligned term) it had the flavour of a peasants' revolt confronting the high-tech forces of empire. Around 50 Flemish robocops waited, batons in hand, surrounding the field (only about the size of a basketball court), which was also ringed by sturdy fences topped with barbed wire, cameras and motion sensors.

As the sun broke through the clouds at 3pm a siren sounded and the action was underway. About half the crowd hopped the first low fence into the intervening meadow and ran towards the experimental enclosure. It was soon clear that the police were outnumbered, with many gaps in their lines through which protesters swarmed. (A major local football match may certainly have helped the protestors here.) The fencing was tough and attempts to pull it down with ropes proved unsuccessful. But it wasn't high enough to keep out climbers who carried strips of carpet to get over the barbed wire. Once inside the compound the security measures then worked to the reapers' advantage as the cops could only clamber after them, too late to stop potatos flying everywhere. Organic seeding potatos were hurled by others from outside the fence to replace the modified strain.

There were around 15 arrests, all those who had made it inside the compound were stuck and worthily sacrificed themselves to the law in the best pacifistic tradition. The police then had to dig a tunnel under the fence to get them out again, and they were immediately released after giving ID details. It is not clear yet what charges will be brought, but the consortium behind the field, which includes the university of Ghent, threatens to sue for damages. There were quite a few injuries including hospitalisations from barbed wire cuts and truncheon blows.

To quote from the Field Liberation Movement's press release: "To sum up, the day of action was very successful. This action points out three paths to follow: the "peasant market" offered a platform for farmers with a real alternative, the demonstration gave the public the occasion to show solidarity with this campaign, and the action of civil disobedience effectively liberated a public space. The debate is now open. From today, biotechnology has to demonstrate that its research is in the service of an agricultural model which is sustainable, ecological, and just."

more fotos:  https://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/1797/

viva patata
- Homepage: http://fieldliberation.wordpress.com/

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech