St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Protesters rally against Monsanto

Protesters rally against Monsanto

By Georgina Gustin, September 18, 2012 12:05 am

Protesters marking the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement gathered at three St. Louis area locations to protest against Monsanto Co., including the biotechnology giant’s Creve Coeur headquarters.

The protests here, organized by a network calling itself Occupy Monsanto and by the group GMO-Free Midwest, were among 45 other “actions” held across the country Monday, organizers said.

Calling on the company to more rigorously test and label genetically modified ingredients, the protesters first gathered outside the Millenium Hotel downtown, then outside the Whole Foods Market in Brentwood and finally outside the company’s offices.

“We’re celebrating the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street,” said Barbara Chicherio, of the Gateway Green Alliance and Safe Food Action St. Louis, and a spokesperson for Occupy Monsanto’s efforts here. “We had a lot of concerns about large corporations controlling the government, but it wasn’t very focused. Now we’re focusing on Monsanto.”

The protests are the latest in a series of events over the past year in which activists have called for mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. A petition urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require labeling gathered more than 1 million signatures earlier this year, and a proposition requiring labeling will go before voters in California this November.

According to records filed with the California Secretary of State, Monsanto has contributed more than $7 million to defeat the proposition.

Now, activists say, they are reaching beyond the labeling issue. “Over 1 million signatures were sent to the FDA and they were basically ignored,” said Adam Eidinger, a coordinator with Occupy Monsanto. “So what’s left to do? It’s time for civil disobedience.”

Eidinger said the company temporarily suspended operations at two of its California facilities in the past week because of protest actions.

Monsanto would not comment on the suspension of operations, saying only that the safety of its employees was paramount.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Coverage of the Occupy Monsanto S17 Free Speech Banner Blitz

Banners, more protests against Monsanto

by Georgina Gustin, Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 12:14 pm

Protesters who are part of a movement calling itself Occupy Monsanto hung banners throughout the region early Tuesday, a day after holding a march through downtown St. Louis and days after protests against the company were held in some 30 cities across the country.

Some of the signs read “FDA is Genetically Contaminated by Monsanto” and “Genetic Biohazard: Defend Yourself.”

By mid-day Tuesday, roughly half of the 13 banners, which were hung mostly on highway overpasses, had been removed by law enforcement, according to an Occupy Monsanto organizer.

Over the weekend the Creve Couer-based biotechnology giant told employees at a research facility in Davis, Calif., that they did not need to come to work, out of concern for their safety amid protests there.

A Monsanto spokesperson said 60 people work at the facility, but did not comment further.

The movement, an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, is trying to urge people to take part in a one-day international protest on September 17, the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The group is calling on federal regulators to require mandatory labeling of foods containing transgenic ingredients, and is pushing to stop approval of new crops that would be genetically engineered to withstand applications of old-generation herbicides.

The company said it respects the rights of the protesters to voice their opinions, but did not comment beyond that.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch