The cultivation of genetically modified plants is prohibited in Bavaria. Now the EU wants to significantly relax the requirements for crops that are produced using so-called new genetic techniques. Conservationists, organic farmers and consumer organizations are horrified.
When it comes to fine organic food in the region west of Munich, La Vida in Utting am Ammersee is one of the top addresses. Sylvia Haslauer and her team offer everything their customers’ hearts desire – fruit and vegetables, meat, sausage and cheese, bread, wine and beer, as well as baby food, cosmetics and animal feed, all of the highest organic standards and guaranteed to be GMO-free. It should stay that way. That’s why Haslauer rejects the EU’s plans to relax the strict requirements for genetic engineering in agriculture. “The minimum is that all products that are manufactured using genetic engineering processes must continue to be clearly identifiable in the future,” she says. “Consumers should continue to be able to decide for themselves whether they want this or not.”