The Italian Battle

A sign reading “Danger, GMO contamination” is posted on 350 square meters (almost an acre) of nearly mature corn genetically altered to resist pesticides that just a day before had been trampled by 70 anti-GMO activists, near Pordenone, northern Italy.

Giorgio Fidenato‘s corn is genetically modified, grown in fields of surreptitiously, and, detractors say, illegally planted Monsanto seed in northeastern Italy not far from the Austrian and Slovene borders. More activist than farmer, Fidenato’s cultivation of nearly 5 hectares (12 acres) of GMO corn is a rogue act aimed at forcing the authorization of genetically engineered crops in Italy.

The Italian battle is shaping up at a critical moment for the future of genetically modified crops in Europe, where the population has generally viewed the technology with suspicion.

Filed Under: Animal & Plant Life