A new website is urging voters to pledge their support for efforts to keep the UK free of GM crops.

Although the Conservative-led government and NFU have both expressed clear support for GM technology, the majority of the public oppose GM crops and want clearer labelling to cover products containing GM material and foods from animals that have been fed on a diet containing GM organisms (GMOs).  

Proponents of the technology claim GM seeds are a useful tool to ensure global food security, boost the nutritional value of staple crops and reduce the use of agricultural inputs such as pesticides.

However, opponents contest these claims, pointing out that there is no scientific consensus on the crops' value. Earlier this year, Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, Countered claims made by then-environment secretary Owen Paterson about the value of GM crops, saying, "Almost all the claims made for GM crops by proponents of the technology are claims about benefits that GM technology will deliver in future. This is not a new phenomenon – such claims were being made in the late 1990s, when GM crops were first introduced.

"Claims that GM crops will solve world hunger, or will deliver drought resistant, nitrogen-fixing or nutrient rich crops, are not science but prophecy."

Opponents have also warned that the crops represent a lurch further towards uniformity and homogenisation of agricultural breeding stocks, making farming more susceptible to the effects of pests, disease and climate change.

In the United States, the cradle of the controversial crops, public opinion has swung against GM and food companies and agribusinesses have been forced to spend huge amounts of money to derail proposals for mandatory labelling of GMO ingredients; 20 US states now have at least one Bill or ballot initiative dealing with GM labelling.

A new campaign website is asking members of the public to help raise the profile of the GM issue, ahead of the May general election. The Beyond GM initiative, which is supporting GM Free Me site claims it is a safe "bet that this issue won’t be included in the main party manifestos and that neither the government nor the main opposition parties will want to discuss [GM]."

The GM Free Me website urges members of the public to 'put themselves on the map' by posting a photo and their location. The photo will appear on a map of Britain, in the poster's parliamentary constituency. Beyond GM hopes that "The more of us who participate, harder it will be for our elected representatives to ignore this issue."

The site can be accessed here