TTIP: a recipe for disaster
Date: 17 December 2014
5 reasons why the EU-US trade deal could put you off your dinner.
1 Food safety
TTIP is being negotiated in secret, but statements from businesses and politicians involved in the negotiations suggest that the deal could undermine key aspects of our food safety. For instance the deal could allow into Europe chemically-washed chickens and hormone-pumped beef which has been linked to cancer in humans.
2 Corporate control
TTIP could hand over vast new powers to corporations to control every aspect of our food system from seeds to shelves – giving less of a say to farmers and consumers. If that wasn’t bad enough corporations could also get a much bigger influence on law making.
3 Local production
Councils across the UK are supporting local sustainable food production by buying local produce. Under TTIP that could be deemed illegal.
4 The environment
TTIP aims to ‘harmonise’ regulation between the EU and the USA – which could lead to a race to the bottom for regulation to allow new chemicals and pesticides and to lower animal rights. The effects of this on our environment and the welfare of animals could be detrimental.
5 The alternatives are already here
Our food system currently has many flaws. But positive alternatives such as small-scale organic and permaculture farms are emerging across Europe. However, with TTIP these small farms could be forced to compete with industrial farms using new chemicals and hormones.
