6 April, 2014

Update on Steve Marsh's case: we are waiting on the judgment!

Steve Marsh's court case ended on Friday 28th February, and the judge has reserved his decision. We will send you an update as soon as we know the day that the judge intends to announce his decision in this important landmark case that could change the future of farming in Australia and beyond.

In the meantime, if you would like to read the transcripts and witness statements in the trial, you can do so here and you can also read a daily blog written by Julie Newman, National Spokesperson for the Network of Concerned Farmers, who attended the trial everyday.

Scott Kinnear, Safe Food Foundation director has also written a summary here.

We have received donations from around the world from students, mothers, fathers, businesses and pensioners ranging from $2 to $200,000! It has been overwhelming to see the donations coming in and to read the messages of support. Steve and his wife have been overwhelmingly touched by your support in this difficult time.

While we are hoping that Steve wins his right to farm GM free, we are still short of approximately $75,000 to repay loans taken out to pay for the cost of the trial. It would not take a large amount from each person to get there so please consider making another donation and asking your friends and family to join us!

This campaign would not be where it is today without your support!

Thank you so much for being a part of the #IamSteveMarsh movement.

A word from Chef Jared Ingersoll who hosted a fabulous fund raising dinner in Sydney on the 25th February.

"I do support all farmers rights to be able to work the land as they choose and to sell to the markets that they believe to be in their best interests. However I choose to stand on the side of Steve Marsh and lend my absolute support to him because he represents my belief that we need to able to manage agriculture in a responsible, sensitive and sustainable way. Further to that I believe it would be an irreparable crime not only to the environment but also to Australian agriculture everywhere if we devalue the natural beauty of this land and what it represents.

If we continue to allow GM technologies to be used unchecked and allow contamination we will also lose a global edge, we will lose bio-diversity and we will be subservient to corporate control - this is not a conspiracy theory it is factual. This is a highly emotive subject that is fraught with prejudice and propaganda from all sides and it can get pretty murky and complex so I would ask you to do 2 very quick and simple things:

First.
Pause for just a moment and learn about this case, it'll mean stepping away from your Facebook stream briefly, but trust me, it'll be time well spent. Click the link here or after one search engine entry and a few clicks of a mouse later you will have a lot of information from both sides of the argument. Learn something and then take a moment to consider your position.

Second.

Do something, which will be really easy because like it or not you cannot NOT do something. You are, in the very near future going to buy some food to eat and with that purchase you are sending the only message business and politicians really understand. If you make an educated & conscious decision to support GM or to not support GM then good on you! I urge you to read the label and vote with your 'hard earned' dollars but keep in mind this. If you only want to purchase/vote for GM foods, you will not be able to see what contains GM because no food company in the world would has ever wanted to promote the technologies that they support and would never willingly choose to label their food accordingly. In fact big food & GM seed companies spend huge sums of money to ensure that they do not have to tell you! They do not want you to know what you are eating, why would that be you think?

Eat well

Please, if you are willing and able, donate to Steve Marsh. His battle is being funded by his own funds and donations from people that care and understand the magnitude of what's at stake. The risk he and his family are taking to preserve our right to choice is massive and the human stories of his and his family's sacrifice have moved me deeply. This case is massively expensive and the pockets of the companies and lobby groups supporting his neighbour are very very deep.

Jared Ingersoll #iamstevemarsh

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