This is a Call to Action for a Non-Hierarchical Occupation of Monsanto Everywhere
Whether you like it or not, chances are Monsanto contaminated the food you ate today with chemicals and unlabeled GMOs. Monsanto controls much of the world's food supply at the expense of food democracy worldwide. This site is dedicated to empowering citizens of the world to take action against Monsanto & it's enablers like the FDA, USDA, EPA, GMA, BIO, and the processed food companies that use Monsanto's products.
From sunset Friday, January 10 until at least 2am, January 11, 2014, safe food activists will be holding a nighttime vigil outside of the FDA’s Center For Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (5100 Paint Branch Pkwy College Park, MD 20740) to demand the FDA require mandatory labels for foods containing genetically engineered ingredients. Throughout the evening activists will be projecting crowdsourced food labels, photos, and videos submitted by concerned citizens from around the world on to the side of the FDA building.
WHAT TO BRING
This demonstration will be taking place at night in the middle of the winter and we anticipate COLD weather. Organizers will bring outdoor heaters and some blankets, but it is advised to bring hand & toe warmers, a warm winter jacket, wool socks, long underwear, blankets, folding chairs, flashlights, a tent & sleeping bag (if you plan on staying overnight), thermos of coffee or tea, signs, and the desire to get the FDA to require mandatory labels.
GETTING TO THE FDA
The FDA’s Center For Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is located at 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy College Park, MD 20740. The building is conveniently located across the street from the College Park Metro Station on the Green Line. We recommend using a SmarTrip card (available for purchase at any station, except Dulles & BWI airports) to bypass the $1 surcharge on paper tickets.
If coming by car, there is street parking available near the building as well as a parking garage at the College Park Metro Station ($4.50 per day, credit card only)
If coming by Bus or Train, take the Red Line from Union Station in the direction of Shady Grove to the Gallery Place Station, change trains to the Green Line (on the lower level) in the direction of Greenbelt, and get off at the College Park Station.
If flying into Reagan National Airport, take the Yellow Line train in the direction of Fort Totten to the Gallery Place Station, change trains to the Green Line (on the lower level) in the direction of Greenbelt, and get off at the College Park Station.
If flying into Dulles International Airport, take 5A Bus ($6 exact fare – pickup located at Curb 2E) to the L’Enfant Metro Station, take the Green Line in the direction of Greenbelt, and get off at the College Park Station.
If flying into BWI Airport, take the B30 Bus ($6 exact fare – pickups located at Concorse A and E. Follow the signs that say “Public Transit”) to the Greenbelt Metro Station, take the Metro one stop and get off at the College Park Station.
The Washington Metro runs until around 2am and restarts at 7am on Saturday morning.
We know that it may be difficult for many of you to attend in person, but you can still participate by submitting your photos, videos, and mock gmo food labels (upload form below). If you can’t attend in person, please select “Maybe” on the Facebook event page and invite all your friends. If you can come, please select “Going” and invite your friends!
Some questions to ponder:
What does GMO labeling mean to you? What would a GMO label look like?
How would you like to label the FDA? Do you have video of your March Against Monsanto you’d like to share?
Do you have photos from your city’s March Against Monsanto you think would look nice projected on to the building?
Think it over!
In order to prepare the multimedia for projection on Friday, January 10, the window to upload graphics ended on Wednesday, January 8. THANK YOU to everyone who contributed!
Company supports consumer’s right to know by setting five-year deadline for labeling GMOs
Whole Foods Market announced today at Natural Products Expo West that, by 2018, all products in its U.S. and Canadian stores1 must be labeled to indicate if they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs)2. Whole Foods Market is the first national grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency.
“We are putting a stake in the ground on GMO labeling to support the consumer’s right to know,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. “The prevalence of GMOs in the U.S. paired with nonexistent mandatory labeling makes it very difficult for retailers to source non-GMO options and for consumers to choose non-GMO products. Accordingly, we are stepping up our support of certified organic agriculture, where GMOs are not allowed, and we are working together with our supplier partners to grow our non-GMO supply chain to ensure we can continue to provide these choices in the future.”
Whole Foods Market has been collaborating with many of its supplier partners for several years to source products without GMO ingredients. In 2009, the company began putting its 365 Everyday Value™ line through Non-GMO Project™ verification and encouraged its grocery supplier partners to do the same. Whole Foods Market currently sells 3,300 Non-GMO Project verified products from 250 brands, more than any other retailer in North America. It will now expand this effort, working with suppliers in all categories as they transition to ingredients from non-GMO sources, or clearly label products containing GMOs by the five-year deadline. Whole Foods Market will make announcements about progress and key milestones along the way.
“We’re responding to our customers, who have consistently asked us for GMO labeling and we are doing so by focusing on where we have control: in our own stores,” said Robb.
GMOs are now part of an ongoing national conversation, thanks to efforts of various advocacy groups such as JustLabelIt.org and to individual states considering their own mandatory labeling laws, like the efforts that are now underway in Washington state. “Whole Foods Market supports that measure and looks forward to supporting other state efforts that may finally lead to one uniform set of national standards,” said Robb. “While we are encouraged by the many mandatory labeling initiatives, we are committed to moving forward with our own GMO transparency plan now.”
“We have always believed that quality and transparency are inseparable and that providing detailed information about the products we offer—such as 5-Step Animal Welfare ratings in meat, Eco Scale rated cleaning products in grocery, stringent wild and farm-raised standards in seafood, and now labeling GMOs throughout the store—is part of satisfying and delighting the millions of people who place their trust in Whole Foods Market each day,” said A.C. Gallo, president of Whole Foods Market. “This bold task will encourage manufacturers to ask deeper questions about ingredients, and it will help us provide greater transparency about the products we sell so our customers can be empowered to make informed decisions about the foods that are best for them.”
Until there is GMO labeling, consumers can rely on Non-GMO Project verified products and certified organic products if they want to avoid GMOs. The U.S. National Organic Standards prohibit the intentional use of GMO seed in the production of organic crops. As a pioneer in the U.S. organic food movement for the past 32 years, Whole Foods Market now offers thousands of organic products, the largest variety in the country.
1 The company has 7 stores in the U.K., which already requires labeling for all foods or feeds that intentionally contain or are produced from GMO ingredients.
2 Plants that have been altered through a technique that changes their genetic makeup, producing new combination of genes and traits that do not occur in nature, including the possibility of the introduction genes from other species, are called genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or genetically engineered (GE) foods.
