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Wine Growers Declare War on GE Grapes

Winegrowers declare war on genetically modified grapes
By GREGORY FLANDERS
Associated Press, July 9, 2004
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/artsfeatures/1672.html

PARIS - Many French vintners are up in arms about what they fear is 
another
threat to their centuries-old winegrowing traditions _ genetically 
modified
grapes.

Earth and Wine of the World, an association that includes nearly 400 
French
winegrowers, is worried about a government research project to tinker 
with
grape genes.

It's a serious concern in a land where the average person over 14 
drinks a
quarter-bottle of wine a day, and where genetically modified crops are 
often
derided as "Frankenfoods."

"It is of utmost importance that the future of our profession is not
determined solely under the influence of scientists, industrialists and
technocrats," the group said in a news release Thursday after meeting in
Paris to come up with a plan of attack.

The National Institute of Agricultural Research is seeking ways to make
vulnerable grapes more resistant to disease, and it plans to replant a 
batch
of genetically modified vines after a five-year pause.

"We're not persuaded that the tests will start with the maximum number 
of
precautions that we consider absolutely necessary," said Alain 
Graillot, the
president of the vintners association, which also includes winegrowers 
from
California to Germany.

"We want to be certain that there will be no accidental spreading, and 
that
any possible toxicity of the plants is completely ruled out," he told 
The
Associated Press.

A small crop of genetically modified grapes was planted in 1996 in 
eastern
France by the champagne manufacturer Moet et Chandon in partnership 
with the
agricultural institute.

But consumer pressure forced the company to dig the plants out of the 
ground
in 1999 and limit research to the lab, said Sylvie Colleu, an institute
spokeswoman.

After all, France is the land that made a hero out of Jose Bove, the
mustachioed farmer-turned-activist known for ripping up genetically 
modified
crops and ransacking a half-built McDonald's in 1999.

"In France, the consumers of wine are rather traditional, and many are
against genetically modified organisms," Colleu said. "And many
professionals feel that this could hurt the image of their brands."

The dug-up plants were frozen in a laboratory, and the institute is 
waiting
for the green light from Agriculture Minister Herve Gaymard to replant 
them.

Jean Masson, the president of the research center in Colmar where the 
tests
would be conducted, said the vines could be planted as early as August.

This time around, the institute has agreed to certain restrictions to 
ease
consumer fears, he said. No wine will be produced from the plants, for
example.

Winemakers have complained that there is a lack of dialogue between the
researchers and the public. Masson, however, said that he had replied 
to a
letter from Earth and Wine of the World that he had received in March 
2003,
but that he had no response until a fax last week.

France's vintners have for years suffered a steady erosion of their
livelihoods by margin-squeezing supermarket chains, falling demand at 
home
and the growing popularity of Australian and American wines abroad. A
government crackdown on drunken driving has also battered domestic 
sales.

Worried French winemakers are currently waging another battle: trying to
loosen restrictions on alcohol advertising.

Their message _ that people should drink more _ has met with resistance 
from
doctors' groups, who say the French already drink enough.