As a half-dozen multi-national corporations led by Monsanto continue their quest to own the world’s food supply, organized resistance by the people of Earth mounts as well. It’s been a back-and-forth war with victories and defeats on each side. On May 24 in cities and towns across the globe, the world’s citizens will join together for one giant, worldwide public protest. It’s the March Against Monsanto.
Global March Against Monsanto – They can black-out coverage, but they can’t stop it.
In terms of sports analogies, it’s the eighth inning, the start of the fourth quarter, or the beginning of stoppage time. Summing up the latest scoring by both teams, the contest is tied. Forces on both sides of the issue have seen victories and losses recently. And every reader has a vested interest since every one of us consumes GMO products nearly every day, usually without even knowing it. Which side are you on?
March Against Monsanto
One way or another, the issue of genetically modified foods is going to come to a final conclusion soon. With a national ban on GMO products currently out of the realm of possibility, a law requiring the labeling of GMO products would probably accomplish the same result. If Monsanto has their way however, a national law will be enacted banning the labeling of GMO and non-GMO products. It would pave the way for laboratory-created organisms to replace natural food forever. Remember, the genes of GMO plants and animals have been modified to be dominant. There’s no switching back to natural, real food once GMO’s are fully integrated.
‘On May 24, millions of activists from around the world will once again March Against Monsanto, calling for the permanent boycott of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and other harmful agro-chemicals,’ the press release from the March Against Monsanto website reads, ‘Currently, marches will occur on 6 continents, in 52 countries, with events in over 400 cities. In the US, solidarity marches are slated to occur in 47 states.’
Most GMO activists on both sides of the issue probably aren’t aware of the origins of the March Against Monsanto. It originally had nothing to do with re-engineering the world’s food supply, but instead was organized by Kelly Derricks, president and co-founder of Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance. Few know that Monsanto, the company that brings America its GMO vegetables, is also the company that gave the world the WMD Agent Orange. Derricks is quoted on the site saying, “If we fail to realize that March Against Monsanto is not about GMOs alone, then we have already lost the battle.”
Local marches
The March Against Monsanto website includes a scrolling spreadsheet with the ever-growing list of hundreds of local marches scheduled for May 24. When organizers released their last announcement, the number of organized demonstrations had exceeded 400 cities. To see if your town or a city near you is on the list, visit the March Against Monsanto local events section.
To give readers a brief glimpse at just how widespread the March Against Monsanto is, the city of Accra in Ghana will have a march. So will Windhoek in Namibia. South Africa will see no less than 6 separate marches in cities across that nation. India, South Korea, Israel, Ireland, Switzerland and Australia will also host mass marches. Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic, and Cyprus show readers just how full the alphabetized list of participating nations is. There are literally too many to list in this space.
Germany leads European nations with 13 separate March Against Monsanto protests. But North America, home of Monsanto, appears to be ground zero. Canada has marches scheduled in 60 different cities and growing. While the US has more participating towns and cities than can be counted. California alone will have 50 separate anti-Monsanto demonstrations. Florida is another state that will host marches against Monsanto in no less than 31 communities.
Participating organizations
One segment of the American population that is energetically behind the March Against Monsanto is the Occupy Wall Street movement. Spearheading that effort is Occupy Monsanto. The group’s website proudly proclaims its support and participation in the March Against Monsanto and even reiterates some of the reasons for the global protest.
‘March Against Monsanto is a global call to action aimed at informing the public,’ the announcement reads, ‘calling into question long-term health risks of genetically modified foods and demanding that GMO products be labeled so that consumers can make informed decisions.’ The notice also includes a brief list of bullet points that include, ‘Protect our food supply, support local farms, protect our environment, promote organic solutions, expose the cronyism between big business and the government, and bring accountability to those responsible for the corruption.’
Another active participant in the March Against Monsanto is the grassroots organization, and good friend of Whiteout Press, Food and Water Watch. Currently, the group is diligently working to educate the American people, as well as fellow activists, as to what is currently at stake regarding national GMO labeling laws being proposed in Washington.
“The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), with about 300 member companies like Monsanto, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Smithfield, represents the largest food, beverage and biotech companies,” FWW’s Sarah Alexander recently told supporters, “And now, on behalf of all these companies, they’ve gotten Rep. Pompeo to introduce a Bill that will prohibit states from creating their own laws around labeling genetically engineered foods, while also making it illegal to create mandatory labeling at the federal level. You may have heard this Bill referenced as the DARK Act, or the Denying Americans the Right to Know Act.”
The global March Against Monsanto will take place in cities around the world on May 24, 2014. For more information, visit March-Against-Monsanto.com.
Image Credit: Rosalee Yagihara from Vancouver, Canada
