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.
Thousands Gather In Washington, D.C. To Rally Against ‘Dark Act’
WASHINGTON, DC — On October 16 and 17, 2015, the Food Justice Coalition will take to the streets of Washington, D.C. to raise awareness and lobby for the labeling of GMO foods.
The two-day event, in which hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are expected to turn out, aims to lobby Senators for the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act as well as occupy Monsanto, the EPA, the GMA, and the TPP!
On Saturday, October 17th, the Food Justice Rally will begin at noon sharp on the West Lawn of the Capitol building. Scheduled to speak about the dangers of GMOs and the need for GMO labeling include Dr. Edward Group, Steven Druker, Anthony Gucciardi, Ronnie Cummins, Adam Eidinger, Kelly L. Derricks, and Liz Reitzig with other special guests. There will be a large unity march through the streets of D.C. following the rally.
As the most powerful biotech corporation today, Monsanto has drawn criticism for its control of the global food chain and advancement of genetically modified organisms.
GMO crops and ingredients have been consumed in the US for over twenty years and most of the corn, soybeans, and canola produced in the US are genetically engineered. Polls conducted by the New York Times, Washington Post, and Consumer Reports show over 90% of Americans support national GMO labeling – an initiative that has been repeatedly defeated at the state level as a result of heavy spending by Monsanto-backed lobbying groups.
According to the Center for Food Safety, dozens of US states have considered GMO labeling initiatives and a few have passed laws mandating GMO transparency. Vermont’s governor signed the nation’s first GMO-labeling requirement into law in 2014, to take effect in 2016, but a coalition of biotech firms filed a lawsuit in opposition. Other states have passed limited labeling laws with strings attached.
“In 2013, the first March Against Monsanto garnered more than 2 million protesters in over 400 cities across the world. Since then, the March Against Monsanto has become the most powerful grassroots initiative we have in the fight to reclaim our food supply from the GMO seed juggernaut known as the Monsanto Company,” said Anthony Gucciardi, March Against Monsanto speaker.
MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO WORLDWIDE PROTESTS ON MAY 23
Marchers in over 400 Cities Demand Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods and the Reduction of Carcinogenic Chemicals Used in Industrial Agriculture
WASHINGTON, DC – On May 23, 2015, for the third year in a row, hundreds of thousands of concerned individuals will gather across 38 countries and 428 cities to join in peaceful protest against the Monsanto Company as a part of the March Against Monsanto grassroots campaign. This movement seeks to raise awareness to the dangers surrounding Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds and cancer-linked herbicide Roundup.
The campaign comes as the demand for GMO labeling and non-GMO food alternatives continues its exponential climb, with states like Vermont enacting mandatory GM labeling legislation that will require food corporations to let consumers know if their products contain GM ingredients.
In polls conducted by the New York Times, Washington Post, Consumer Reports, and many others, over 90% of respondents were in support of national GMO labeling – an initiative that has been defeated time and time again at the state level thanks to heavy spending by Monsanto-backed lobbying groups.
Highlighting the concern over Monsanto’s products is the latest report from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, which listed the primary chemical in Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide Roundup, glyphosate, as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” This finding has drawn many researchers and health experts to stand behind the goals of March Against Monsanto.
WHO: Concerned consumers, students, and gardeners, members of DC March Against Monsanto, GMO Free DC, Occupy Monsanto, and the Organic Consumers Association. WHAT: The Washington, DC March Against Monsanto WHERE: Lafayette Park, north of the White House to Monsanto’s Washington, DC offices. WHEN: Saturday, May 23. Marchers will gather at noon and march at 1pm
“We are marching because we’re tired of being ignored by the White House, FDA, and the USDA,“ says Gene Etic, an organizer with Occupy Monsanto. The White House has failed to respond to multiple GMO labeling petitions and has gone so far as appointing former Monsanto employees to positions of power in the FDA. Officially, the FDA does not believe there is any material difference between patented GMO plants and their non-GMO counterparts, but marchers believe that patented plants deserve a label in order to fully inform consumers of the novel technology.
“We already label foods that are irradiated, a process that everyone agrees is safe, so if GMO ingredients are also safe, why not label them as well?” asks Natalie Freeds, an organizer with DC March Against Monsanto. “I want this basic information so I can choose which foods to feed my children.” In fact, over 64 countries around the world either ban GE foods or require them to be properly labeled, including Russia, China, and the European Union.
Marchers will also be taking a stand against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement that will prevent GMO labeling in America and force Monsanto’s patented products on to countries that wish to be GMO-free.
There are two GMO labeling federal bills currently in Congress called the “Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act,” which would require the mandatory labeling of GMOs sold in America. The House version, H.R. 913, is sponsored by Rep. Defazio (D-OR), and the Senate version, S.511, is sponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
Aside from marching against Monsanto and the TPP, organizers are marching against Rep. Pompeo’s H.R. 1599, colloquially known as the D.A.R.K. Act (Denying Americans’ Right to Know). This legislation promoted by Monsanto and other industrial agricultural proponents would pre-empt state labeling laws and would undo the GMO labeling laws that have been passed in Connecticut, Maine and Vermont.
Americans Demand GMO Labeling
In 2011 and 2012 over a million Americans signed the “Just Label It” FDA petition for GMO labeling, but the FDA has responded with silence. “The Food and Drug Administration is not listening to the overwhelming majority of Americans who want meaningful food labels,” says Jessica Payne, founder of Loudoun Against GMOs. “We have signed numerous petitions but we’ve received no response. We only want the same food labels citizens of over 64 countries enjoy.”
The deafening silence on GMO labeling reaches to President Obama’s White House as well. Activists have chosen to gather outside the White House because in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 President Obama’s White House failed to respond to three “We The People” online petitions on the White House website that have reached the required signature threshold for a response.
On September 23, 2011, on the second day after the “We The People” online petition website was launched, the first GMO labeling petition was created. This petition is the oldest unanswered petition on the “We The People” website. It has received over 66,000 signatures and has not received a response, while a petition on raw milk, which was also created on the very same day, was responded to after only 6,000 signatures. In April of 2012 another GMO labeling petition was created and 37 months & over 115,000 signatures later, there is still no response from the White House. Best replica watches is fitted with swiss eta movement. Most recently, in October, 2014, another petition concerning the EPA’s approval of GE crops resistant to the highly toxic chemical 2,4-D reached the required threshold of over 100,000 signatures but has gone unanswered. In the meantime, the White House has answered three petitions on cannabis legalization and responded to insignificant petitions on issues like building the Death Star and the White House beer recipe. “What is the point of petitioning our government when our petitions fall upon deaf ears?” asks Gene Etic. “We are taking to the streets because our concerns can’t be ignored any longer.”
On Saturday, May 24, 2014, March Against Monsanto in your community! Below is a spreadsheet export made on May 21, 2014 that lists all of the upcoming marches with Facebook Event invites. For the latest spreadsheet of planned marches, check out the official listing on the March Against Monsanto website.
This list was last updated on October 11, 2013 and will not be updated again until after the March. If you would like to add an event to the list, please find MAM on facebook or email mam.newmexico(at)gmail.com
Millions protest genetically modified food, Monsanto, organizers say
Two million people in more than 50 countries marched over the weekend in protest against a company called Monsanto, organizers claimed. CNN could not independently verify those numbers.
Monsanto is a giant, $58 billion multinational corporation with field offices in 60 countries. It was founded more than 100 years ago – and is best known for producing the chemical known as Agent Orange that scorched thousands of miles of earth during the Vietnam war.
Monsanto currently produces pesticides designed to deliver a death blow to living things, and also produces seeds designed to resist those lethal chemicals.
Now the company, with a history of questionable ethics practices and close ties to the government, may have received protection from future trouble. Slipped into a bill signed by President Barack Obama back in March is something called the “Monsanto Protection Act,” which would shield Monsanto seeds and other genetically modified crops approved by the Agriculture Department to be grown – even if there is action in the courts against them.
The weekend protest was focused on genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. GMOs are plants, bacteria, and animals whose genetic makeup has been scientifically altered.
Some opponents want GMOs banned, others say foods whose DNA has been changed needs to at least be labeled.
Monsanto is a leading producer of genetically modified seeds and herbicides. In the last quarter alone it sold seed – much of it modified – worth more than $4 billion. The company said their business helps to feed the planet.
“It’s a vision that strives to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population,” said a Monsanto ad.
Some of the outrage was sparked by shocking photos showing massive tumors that developed on rats that ate genetically modified corn over a lifetime.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Caen, France. It has been criticized by many in the scientific community, and by the European food safety authority, who said it is simply not up to scientific standards.
Even so, the disturbing tumor photos lead many to question their own standards about what exactly they are eating.
But consumers have no way of knowing if they are eating genetically modified food, or feeding it to their family.
Last week, U.S. senators debated whether states could require food labeling for products with genetically engineered ingredients. The legislation, introduced by Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, failed.
“When you take on very powerful biotech companies like Monsanto and large food corporations, who, in many ways, would prefer that people not know what is in the food that they produce, they’re very powerful,” said Sanders. “They were able to gather a whole lot of support in the Senate.”
On its website, Monsanto states, “plant biotechnology has been in use for over 15 years, without documented evidence of adverse effects on human or animal health or the environment.”
Legislators who sided with Monsanto say the company is improving on nature.
“I think it would more accurately be called a modern science to feed a very troubled and hungry world,” Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts said on the Senate floor last week.
But Sanders said the company, and others like it, need to be more transparent, and that slipping protection for Monsanto into that March bill was wrong.
“People have a right to know what is in the food they’re eating,” said Sanders.
“You have deregulated the GMO industry from court oversight, which is really not what America is about. You should not be putting riders that people aren’t familiar with, in a major piece of legislation,” said Sanders.
Law or no law, grocery giant Whole Foods said they will start labeling all genetically modified food by 2018.
“The fact is there are no studies, as yet, linking GMO to health problems,”said Michael Moss, New York Times investigative reporter and author of “Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.”
The flip side, said Moss, is there are few scientists doing that kind of research, and the agency in charge of GMOs is “the FDA, which has a real spotty record on food safety, which concerns people.”
At the moment, the issue appears to be evolving into a matter of disclosure.
“People care about what they’re putting into their bodies, and they want to know what is in the products that they’re eating, so they can make that decision,” said Moore.
Yesterday we created a community spreadsheet on Google Docs. The spreadsheet was designed to catalog all of the March Against Monsanto media that was generated over the last week. From local TV coverage to unedited Youtube videos to Facebook photo galleries of the March Against Monsanto, we hope you will consider adding to spreadsheet so that others will see the success of your March Against Monsanto. Below we have over 170 different items but we know that this listing is only the tip of the iceberg!
