M.A.G.E goes 'shopping'

Three weeks prior to our action we wrote to Marks and Spencer's head office stating our intention including the date of the action. We received a standard letter for inquiries over genetically modified foods, but after a telephone call they understood that we were going to remove Genetically Modified (GM) foods and take them to the Environmental Health department, as we believed they posed an unacceptable health hazard.

We had two people actually removing the goods, the 'decontaminators', supported by six people leafleting inside and outside the store. They also liaised with the store staff and explained the issues to the customers.

As the decontaminators we were trailed through the shop, fairly low- key at first, then more obviously as we attached biohazard symbols to our shopping baskets. Whilst one person had most of the attention, the other was going round the store taking products off the shelves, and replacing them with alternative organic and GM-free products. Just as fast, the security guards were doing the reverse.

As we tried to get out the door, there were scuffles with security guards. This could have been avoided if we simply handed back the goods and we could have hidden a small number of goods under our clothes. But on balance I'm glad we acted totally openly which I'm sure is more honest and less stressful. Eventually, a packet of GM cheese was taken outside the store, where an impromptu press conference was given.

We gave our statements explaining our actions to the manager and the police were called, but it seemed the policy was to not involved them. To ensure that Manchester's Environmental Health were involved, we took some GM products to them just before going to Marks and Spencer. They took the issue seriously, and agreed to investigate the matter. We await their findings.