Press Release

Global shock and outrage at World Food Prize for GMO executives

81 recipients of the Right Livelihood Award and Members of the World Future Council condemn the selection of GMO scientists and company executives as winners of the World Food Prize.

Hamburg, 27 June – On June 19th, the winners of the 2013 World Food Prize were announced. The prize goes to three executives of biotechnology companies, including Monsanto executive vice president and chief technology officer, Robert Fraley and Mary Dell-Chilton, founder of Syngenta.

Now, scientists and activists throughout the world collectively voice their shock over the selection of winners.

Global food expert and Right Livelihood Award recipient Vandana Shiva from India comments: “Not only are GMOs unsafe, they are destroying biodiversity, increasing farmers’ dependency on seed and chemicals and leading to the emergence of super pests and super weeds. This is a recipe for food insecurity and non sustainability.”

Frances Moore Lappé (USA), Right Livelihood Award Recipient and bestselling author of „Diet for a Small Planet“ stresses: “The honorees of the World Food Prize are contributing to the problems that keep us locked in a world where hundreds of millions of people are hungry while there is plenty of food”.

81 Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award and Members of the World Future Council condemn this year’s choice of the World Food Prize Jury in a joint statement published today in the “Huffington Post”. They say: “The choice of the 2013 World Food Prize is an affront to the growing international consensus on safe, ecological farming practices that have been scientifically proven to promote nutrition and sustainability. Many governments have rejected GMOs and as many as two million citizens in 52 countries recently marched in opposition to GMOs. In living democracies, discounting this knowledge and these many voices is not acceptable.“

Among the 81 signatories are: David Suzuki, Canada (RLA 2009); Bishop Erwin Kräutler, Brazil (RLA 2010); Hans Peter Dürr, Germany (RLA 1987); Ashok Khosla, India; and Motoyuki Suzuki, Japan.

Monsanto and the Syngenta Foundation are among the sponsors listed on the World Food Prize’s website.

For the complete text of the statement including a list of all signatories and more information please go to www.worldfuturecouncil.org/worldfoodprize2013.html.