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.
DAVIS About 60 Occupy Sacramento, Woodland and Davis protesters gathered at the Monsanto Davis plant Monday morning to protest against the company exactly one year after the Occupy Movement began.
Monsanto is the leading producer of genetically engineered seeds and the protesters hope to let executives know they strongly oppose genetically modified food. They also hope to show support for Proposition 37, an initiative on the November 6th ballot that would require genetically modified foods to be labeled.
Davis Police are not saying if they will arrest people if Monsanto files a complaint, but say they will assess the situation and bring out more officers if necessary.
Protester Jonny Goh says he’s willing to be arrested. Goh says it is “part of being American.”
Approximately 200 people are expected to show up Monday at Monsanto located at 1920 5th Street.
Over 75 Protests to Target Makers of Genetically Engineered Foods on Anniversary of Occupy Movement
WORLDWIDE – An expanding network of concerned individuals known as Occupy Monsanto has emerged over the past 9 months staging numerous protests at companies connected to the global trade of genetically engineered foods, also known as GMOs. The network announced today that on September 17, 2012 protests will begin for an entire week in St. Louis, home of the Monsanto Corporation, and across the US including California where voters will decide if they will label GMOs this election and worldwide in Argentina, Canada, Germany, India, Spain, Philippines, Paraguay and other countries where concern over GMO impact on the environment and human health is growing.
The protests will vary in size and nature but are unified in pushing back GMO food into the lab from which it came. An interactive map with times, dates and locations of the 75+ protests can be found at https://occupy-monsanto.com/genetic-crimes-unit/ .
Occupy Monsanto means to confront the industrial agriculture system head-on. Some protests could result in widespread arrests of people who choose to engage in non-violent civil disobedience. Despite the peaceful nature of these planned protests, organizers are concerned about surveillance of Occupy-Monsanto.com by the US Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies worldwide. Nevertheless Occupy Monsanto protests will feature costumes made of bio-hazmat protective gear that can also protect against pepper spray from police who have routinely attacked occupy protests in the past year.
“There is something wrong when a chemical manufacturer, the same company who made Agent Orange, controls the US food supply,” says Jaye Crawford, a member of the Genetic Crimes Unit in Atlanta, Georgia that has planned a week of events. Info: https://occupy-monsanto.com/atlanta-gcu-schedule-of-events/ .
“Wall Street and the American political elite have underestimated and even ignored our potential to effect rational policy change on GMOs which would include labeling for GMOs and restrictions on GMO cultivation,” says Gene Etic an anti-GMO campaigner based in Washington, DC. “If Occupy Monsanto’s anti-GMO actions are successful, after September 17 the media and increasingly more voters will ask tough questions about these experimental GMO crops especially within the context of the Presidential election, as that office holds the power to determine American food policy,” says Etic.
“People are stirred by the evidence that GMO foods compromise human health,” says Rica Madrid, a member of the Genetic Crime Unit of Occupy Monsanto. “Politicians and their sponsoring corporations ignore public outcry over GMOs to protect huge profits over health. Since GMOs’ introduction to the food supply in the mid 1990’s, food allergies have expanded according to Center for Disease Control data,” says Madrid.
“By purchasing influence via massive campaign donations, Monsanto ensures the essential duties of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are neglected. One example of this corporate coup is President Obama’s appointment of Michael Taylor, former Monsanto Vice-President and legal council for the chemical company, to head the FDA’s food safety efforts despite his obvious conflict of interest,” says Ariel Vegosen, a member of the Genetic Crimes Unit. She adds, “Monsanto is the biggest maker of genetically engineered crops so it must be stopped before it is too late to shift to healthy organic agriculture practices as a result of widespread genetic contamination by GMOs. ‘Coexistence’ as defined by the USDA of Organic and GMO crops is a myth.”
“At the US State Department it’s apparent Monsanto has duped leaders in Africa to ask the US for foreign aid in the form of GMO technology and equipment,” says Monsanto shareholder Adam Eidinger who last year walked from New York to the White House in Washington, DC with hundreds of other food activists to demand labeling of GMO foods. “The generous use of US tax dollars, endorsed by the likes of rock-star Bono and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a former legal council for Monsanto, is actually another taxpayer funded subsidy for Monsanto’s pesticide and herbicide hungry crops.”
Occupy Monsanto will be heard at the offices and facilities linked in the GMO food system. In St. Louis a major anti-GMO conference will take place in the same location as the ‘12th International Symposium on GMO Safety.’ A lead organizer of the conference is Barbara Chicherio who believes, “’Monsanto’s push to control agriculture and what people are eating poses a great threat not only to consumers in the US, but to farmers and communities throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia.” Info on the conference is at https://gmofreemidwest.org/ .
Media may arrange interviews with Occupy-Monsanto.com by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671 or write to gmo@Occupy-Monsanto.com Visit https://Occupy-Monsanto.com for more information and to see video and photos of protests from earlier this year. All images and video are available for free and unrestricted use by members of the media.
DAVIS— Sacramento Occupy protesters will gather at Monsanto’s Davis facility Monday morning to kick off a series of anti-Monsanto protests — on the day the Occupy Movement began just one year ago.
“We are going to be blockading the entrances where cars can come in,” said event organizer Kim Sloan. “What we are trying to do is showing the community that we want our food controlled by the people instead of big corporations and agriculture companies like Monsanto.”
They are part of a national movement that began protesting corporate greed and income inequality.
Overtime their focus changed to other topics, with people criticizing the group, saying they had no real aim. But organizers here feel they are still making a difference.
“I feel we have been very effective in raising awareness for the community at large like also in getting things like the homeowners bill of Rights to go through,” said another Occupy Sacramento protester, Faygo.
Recently, city council members voted to limit the groups presence at city hall, but despite the challenges the group continues to stay active.
“My hope is that we continue to grow and achieve the main goal that started us and put an end to corporate personhood,” said Faygo.
Occupy protesters will begin protesting at 6 a.m. at Monsanto located at 1920 5th St. in Davis.
NORTHAMPTON, MA – On Sunday September 16, field agents with the Genetic Crimes Unit (GCU) of Occupy Monsanto equipped with bio-hazmat suits, swept the downtown area for ‘biohazards released by biotechnology giant, Monsanto. GCU agents, in search of “Frankencorn,” interviewed bystanders to ascertain the genetic contamination of their most recent meal.
The GCU is responding to local concerns about the health impacts of genetically modified (GM) foods. “In the Pioneer Valley we are lucky to be able to buy fresh local food from our farmers’ markets and food co-ops. But with the unregulated and unlabeled distribution of Genetically Modified Organisms in fields and food products, there’s no way to guarantee the integrity of our food unless we get vocal and demand labeling of GMOs,” said concerned local resident, Martin Dagoberto.
According to their literature, the GCU opposes the continued genetic contamination of the organic food supply, Monsanto’s bid to increase spraying of crops with toxic weed killers like 2,4 D (the main ingredient in Agent Orange) and the health risks associated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As highlighted during this year’s Northeast Organic Farmers Association (NOFA) Summer Conference at UMASS Amherst, there are numerous studies linking GM foods with infertility, immune problems, faulty insulin regulation, changes in organ function and other impacts.
While surveying for genetic contamination, agents spotted the rogue creature known as “Frankencorn,” described on “wanted posters” as a “dangerous accomplice of Monsanto and the FDA, wanted for possession and distribution of the Bt pesticide toxin, now found in the blood of 93% of pregnant women.” Frankencorn was later apprehended by the GCU and labeled as a Genetically Modified Organism.
“It’s absurd that the US government refuses to require safety-testing or labeling for genetically engineered foods. We wanted to do something absurd to parallel this absurdity. We have a right to know what’s in our food,” said GCU Field Agent Anne Quinn.
The action was part of a series of international actions against Monsanto, which officially starts on September 17, the one year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. More information can be found at Occupy-Monsanto.com.
KDVS News has produced a special broadcast interview with three representatives of Occupy Sacramento who have been working to prepare for the September 17 action against Monsanto here in Davis, California. Check it out here, along with the press release about the movement’s participation in the international shutdown Monsanto action on Monday.
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