The social-media fuelled petition against Sainsbury’s and Waitrose stocking Bellaverde broccoli due to the product’s link to the “number-one genetically modified (GMO) food company in the world” has reached more than 10,000 signatures in under two months.
With 10,295 signatures at the time of going to press, the petition calls the seed-breeding giant “dangerous and irresponsible”.
One campaigner wrote: “The fact that the products you have been selling aren’t GMO is not the issue. The issue is that you are supporting Monsanto and giving them a foothold in Britain. Please stop.”
Support for such a campaign has unearthed wider concerns about how disconnected the public is from the fresh produce industry and the issues surrounding it.
Matthew Rawson, chair of the Brassica Growers’ Association, told FPJ: “It is very easy for people to hear media buzzwords such as ‘GM crops’ and feel concerned without being fully informed of all of the facts regarding the matter.
"The industry and retailers need to work together to try to educate consumers on the facts behind how different crops are developed and where the fruit and veg that they buy comes from.”
The campaign, launched by an organisation called Change.org in early February, targets both Sainsbury’s Justin King and Waitrose’s Mark Price personally.
Sainsbury’s has reiterated that it does not have a “direct relationship” with Monsanto or source GM produce, while Waitrose has refused to comment.
A statement from Monsanto said the campaign’s claim that some of Monsanto’s European vegetable seeds are GM “is not true”.
It added: “We work closely with farmers and their retailer customers, including those with policies on plant breeding.”
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