Across Europe farmers are facing challenging times. They are under pressure to produce more high quality affordable food using fewer natural resources. Global competitors are often not subject to the same restrictions and denied the opportunity to choose GM crops as a way to face these challenges.

Ironically, Europeans import and eat GM food and feed from outside the EU, but in many EU countries they don’t let their farmers grow the same products that they import. This reduces EU farmers’ competitiveness globally.

If you knew that…

• The use of GM crops can increase field yields by 6-30% on the same amount of land.
• Farmers who plant GM maize because it is resistant to the insect pest the corn borer have 10% average higher outputs and profitability improvements of between 12% and 21%.
• The use of GM crops can result in permanent reductions in fuel use and CO2 emissions due to less ploughing.
• In 2007, CO2 not emitted because of global biotech crops was equivalent to removing 6.9 million cars from the road for one year.
• According to the European Commission survey published in March 2010, 77% of European citizens agree that the EU should encourage its farmers to take advantage of the latest developments in agricultural biotechnology.

…would you give Europeans the choice to grow and buy GM crops and foods? Support free choice.

Our farmers should have access to tools that make them more competitive and more sustainable. Holding back Europe’s farmers means making Europe an agricultural backwater increasingly dependent on food and feed imports from other countries.

Stop holding Europe back. Support choice for Europe’s farmers.