On Saturday July 4th 1998, five women will launch the first round of 'Genetix Snowball', a campaign of mass non-violent 'civil responsibility', when they will openly pull up genetically engineered (GE) crops at an undisclosed 'test field site' in the home counties. Taking its inspiration from the peace movement's 'snowball' campaign of the 1980's, in which more than 2,000 people were arrested, each snowball participant will invite two others to join the next round of action, potentially increasing participation exponentially.
Although the location of the launch action remains undisclosed, it is in one of the home counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire or Oxfordshire. Farmers hosting test field sites in these counties are being contacted by letter to inform them of the campaign, reassure them, and invite them to join. The test field sites are rented by agrochemical companies. It is hoped the companies or farmers will engage in dialogue and voluntarily remove the crops. The police are also to be informed as to the peaceful nature of the action.
Each of the women will carry and leave at the site a personal statement explaining the reasons for her action. As an act of 'civil responsibility', as opposed to 'civil disobedience' the action expresses the women's conviction that the GE crops are liable to cause criminal damage to other plants, through cross pollination or gene transfer and therefore people have the obligation of pulling them up. The women are willing to risk arrest and justify their actions in a court of law. These actions will on the first and third Saturdays of the month and each person will remove a maximum of one hundred plants. The campaign puts the emphasis on involving many people to ensure the Genetix snowball is genuinely participatory and democratic. The GE plants will be placed in clearly labelled and sealed bags for disposal by the authorities. Participants will wear protective clothing and take safety measures to ensure genetic pollution will not spread from the site. Genetix snowball is calling for a five year moratorium on the release of GE crops into the environment pending further research and public consultation.The government's own statutory bodies have been calling for a similar moratorium.
Rowan Tilly, on of the five women snowballers said, "These GE crops are an assault on our food and the environment. In the face of all responsibility being waived by those in a position to wield it, the responsibility falls on us".
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