Chasing GE Soya Across the Ocean

Dave told many of us last week that he was 'going to France'...

"Well, I am, bound for Lorient, via the island of Madeira. Right now, I'm in a gale, a hundred nautical miles west of northern Portugal/North West Spain.

"The Esperanza left Falmouth last Friday night, with 34 crew on board, including guests from French farming organisations. One of them is the famous Jose Bove - you may remember him from a few years ago, when he was involved in a high-profile 'dismantling' of a new MacDonalds restaurant, in Larzac, in the South of France. He's also famous for his impressive walrus moustache, his old-skool pipe, and his nickname in the French media: Asterix

"Late yesterday afternoon, about halfway between the coast of Portugal and Madeira, we tracked down our quarry - *The Golden Lion*, on its way from Argentina to France with a cargo of animal feeds, made from genetically engineered soya. In the EU, if food products contain GE products, they must be labelled as such. However, if farm animals are fed GE products, the resulting products - meat, milk, cheese, etc. *does not* require labelling. We decided to make some noise, in alliance with French farming organisations.

"After days of flat-calm seas, the weather turned this morning, just as we were launching our 'boarding party' - which would have included Jose. Things didn't go quite as planned. Read about it here.

"As of Wednesday morning [26 January 2005], there'll be a video up there too.

"Average days on the Espy: up at 0630, in the boats by 8am, hanging off the side of ships in the North Atlantic by 0900. By 1000, dealing with colleagues all over Europe by satellite phone, by lunchtime I've had one nap, 1300 debriefing. Afternoon spent writing, organising video footage, photos, etc. 1700, another wee nap, by 1900, I'm in the galley, scrubbing pots. Now it's 2015, and I'm writing this!

"Love, light and big bloody waves, Dave"

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