Thursday 20th August 1998						Immediate release
PRESS RELEASE

GenetiX snowball public meeting
on September 3rd 1998, Oxford

On September 3rd at 7.30 p.m. at East Oxford Community Centre, Cowley Rd, Oxford campaigners from 
genetiX snowball, a campaign opposed to genetically engineered crops, will present the campaign: it’s aims, 
methods and achievements to date[1].  A film of the three snowball actions including the launch action just 
10 miles south of Oxford will also be shown.  It is hoped a local campaign group will be formed and join the 
genetiX harvest action on September 19/20th in Cambridgeshire.

GenetiX snowball was launched on Saturday July 4th 1998, when five women, who had previously announced 
their intention, openly and accountably pulled up almost 200 genetically engineered (GE) plants at a ‘test field 
site’in Oxfordshire.  The women were arrested by Thames Valley Police but later released without charge.  
Following the action, Monsanto, who own the ‘demonstration site’ at Model Farm, Watlington, Oxfordshire, have 
brought injunctions against the women and are also suing them for unlimited damages. There have been two 
further actions since July 4th, one other in Oxfordshire just outside Banbury and most recently one in Lincolnshire.

The campaign takes its inspiration from the peace movement’s ‘snowball’ campaign of the 1980’s, in which more 
than 2,000 people were arrested. Each genetiX snowball participant will invite two others to join the next round of 
action, potentially increasing participation exponentially, hence the name.

Farmers hosting test field sites have been contacted by letter to inform them about the campaign, reassure them, 
and invite them to join in and pull up the crops themselves.  The campaign has also written to the biotechnology 
companies involved in the trials.  It is hoped that the companies and the farmers will engage in dialogue with the 
public about GE crops and food..  Snowball participants carry and leave at the test field site a personal statement 
explaining the reasons for their action.  As an act of ‘civil responsibility’, as opposed to ‘civil disobedience’ the 
action expresses the participant’s convictions that the GE crops are liable to cause damage to other crops, through 
cross pollination or gene transfer and therefore people are obliged to pull them up to prevent further damage.  
Participants are willing to risk arrest and justify their actions in a court of law.  The actions happen on the first and 
third Saturdays of the month and each participant removes a maximum of one hundred plants.  The campaign puts 
the emphasis on involving many people to ensure the genetiX snowball campaign is genuinely participatory and 
democratic.  The GE plants are placed in sealed bags and clearly labelled as a biohazard for disposal by the 
environment agency.  Participants wear protective clothing and take safety measures to ensure genetic pollution 
will not spread from the site.  The police have also been informed of the peaceful nature of the campaign

GenetiX snowball is calling for a five year moratorium on the release of GE crops into the environment pending 
further research and public consultation. The government’s own statutory bodies have been calling for a similar 
moratorium.
ENDS
Contact (Media Liaison):  Andrew Wood 0973 953446 or page 07654 247502

Editors notes
[1] See press release: July 4th 1998 ‘First arrests in Britain for pulling up genetically engineered crops’, July 18th 
1998 ‘Farmer rejects genetically engineered crops’, August 17th 1998 ‘Local residents take direct action to uproot 
genetically engineered crops’. Call genetiX snowball Media Liaison (Andrew Wood) for copies
Picture Editor notes
Still pictures and video footage on DVC format available call Media Liaison for details.
genetiX snowball
A campaign of nonviolent  civil responsibility
One World Centre, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS    Tel: 0161 834 0295    Fax: 0161 834 8187
Press liaison:  Andrew Wood 0973 953446 or page 07654 247502