From Revolution-News:
“This weekend on May 23, 2015, hundreds of thousands of concerned individuals will March Against Monsanto spanning 6 continents, 38 countries and 428 cities to protest against Genetically Modified Organisms and the Monsanto Corporation. This movement seeks to raise awareness to the dangers surrounding Monsanto’s genetically modified crops, cancer-linked herbicide Roundup and will call for an end to the days of unknowingly buying genetically modified food.
The annual campaign comes as the demand for GMO labeling and non-GMO food alternatives continue on a exponential climb. While GMO labeling legislation battles are being fought across the globe, concerned people spearheading the projects are facing-off against multi-national corporate influence, the time to stand in solidarity and scream Hell No GMO’s is now.
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.”
(Note: Monsanto is not the only corporation that genetically modifies food; Cargil, Con-Agra, Sygenta, and others do, but Monsanto Frankenfoods and Frankenfish, and lobbying efforts do make them stand out from the rest of the crowd. It’s noteworthy that even the benign WHO issued a report saying the glyphosate (Round-Up) is ‘likely’ carcinogenic.)
Crossed Crocodiles is a US expatriate living in Ghana, and had suspended his excellent blogging to focus on the fight against GMOs in Ghana. There is a motherlode of information in his August, 2014 ‘The fight against Big Ag and GMOs in Ghana’, and includes a great link to FoodSovereigntyGhana. He taught me most of what I know about Africom, as well; another.
‘Obama signs ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ written by Monsanto-sponsored senator’; well, Obama has been far more Snidely Whiplash than just that, including his cabinet appointments, but still… oh, yes, a timely Tweet (DNA Change You Can Believe In):
From the world’s foremost authority on Gen-Modified food; the barbarity has hit Indian farmers the hardest, and Monasnto has robbed the nation of even owning their wild herbs through *patenting*:
(The bio-tech industry flacks are well-represented on the #march hashtag.)
Gotta love that Reverend Billy Talen!
https://twitter.com/revbillytalen/status/601824779646148608
@PositivelyJoan: Monsanto Ordered Pay $93 Million for poisoning town http://ln.is/naturalsociety.com/m/4o3ei … :
Landmark? Major Corporation Calling GMOs ‘All Natural’ Targeted for False Advertising http://ln.is/naturalsociety.com/nL2Bc …
Directly related: ‘EU Commission proposes GM opt-out for member states’ (boo, hiss, hiss)
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
We weren’t able to attend the March yesterday in Albuquerque but managed to make it to be Bees and Seeds Festival in Tiguex Park — the destination of the marchers — where we joined hundreds of Buquenos in an excellent afternoon’s educational and social event highlighting the menace of frankenfoods and the kill-everything-we-don’t-own-formulae of Monsanto and the rest of that evil industry.
I’m no fan of Facebook either, but this is a pretty good “roundup” — heh — of the day’s doings in Burque:
https://www.facebook.com/events/320521714807307/
I’m sure there’s much more, but I haven’t gone looking for it.
Many suggestions for what we, the Rabble, can do. Specifically, “don’t buy Roundup, an tell anyone you know not to buy it.” That seemed simple and straightforward. I don’t think we’ve ever bought Roundup nor do we know anybody who uses it around here. We leave most of the dandelions for the bees and we try to grow as many other plants and flowers attractive to bees and butterflies as we can. Drought, however, has made that project sometimes touch and go.
We got hooked up with a dude name of Jason Flores-Williams, a high-energy sort of lawyer who gave a barnburner of a speech that bordered on a call to Revolution, I’m not kiddling. His call is not just against Monsanto, oh no, but against the whole institutional structure that supports the injustices we see all around us every day, all the abuses (including police abuse) that are besetting the common people everywhere around the world, including right here in New Mexico. Oh so very much right here in New Mexico.
He’s looking to file a class-action lawsuit against Monsanto to stop the spread of GMOs and force their labeling in New Mexico, and it may work. There is a strong anti-Monsanto/anti-GMO community of small growers all up and down the Rio Grande, and even out in our area, far from anything. The land and environment are too fragile to allow the giants of agribusiness to predominate, but even now, genetically modified chile is a spreading crop — among others which are gaining a foothold.
Turning the tide won’t be easy, but the effort is underway, and as your post here shows, it is global.
what a nice event, chéPasa; i’m so glad you attended. and yes, flores-williams was called by norman mailer “a dangerous writer”. ;-)
here’s his firebrand speech at bees and seeds:
rt has an update on the massive number of the farmers in india who’ve committed suicide over their failed monsanto Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton crops.
““Nationally, in the last 20 years 290,000 farmers have committed suicide – this as per national crimes bureau records,” agricultural scientist Dr. G. V. Ramanjaneyulu of the Center For Sustainable Agriculture told a team from RT’s documentary channel RTD, which traveled to India to learn about the issue.
A number of the widows and family members of Indian farmers with whom the journalists have spoken have the same story to share: in order to cultivate the genetically modified cotton, known as Bt cotton, produced by American agricultural biotech giant Monsanto, farmers put themselves into huge debt. However, when the crops did not pay off, they turned to pesticides to solve the problem – by drinking the poison to kill themselves. ”
i swapped out a few Twitterpics to showcase the many global cities that held protests, by the by. and thank you for allowing this thread to garner at least one comment. ;-)
added on edit: oh, i forgot to mention that i hadn’t even known about gmo chiles. i googled, and yes, there was even an ‘occupy green and red chile’ facebook page. it seems…their protests in abq didn’t reap what they’d hope to achieve. damn.
Thanks for putting up the video of Jason’s stemwinder at the Bees and Seeds Fest in ABQ. We saw Ethan recording it, but didn’t think he’d get it posted so quickly. Bueno! Ethan signed up for the class action suit as well. Here’s hoping it gains traction.
It wasn’t a huge turnout in Albuquerque, but it was a good one.
Jason is “dangerous” whether writing or speaking, and thankfully he’s not the only one. We’ll see if we can get some of the locals in our area interested… I know the farmer down the road is doing his best to decouple from agribusiness, and some of the ranchers in the area are committed environmentalists… so we’ll see.
GMO chile is insane, but the stories of real terror from around the world thanks to the spread of this monstrous GMO industry are just awful. The impunity with which these companies are imbued is only a prelude to the kind of corporate impunity that will become institutionally standardized until and unless the Revolution comes.
i really haven’t been able to find evidence that gm chiles are being cultivated. are they? other species of capsicum, yes: the veddy hot cayennes in china and elsewhere.
but well beyond the ‘monsanto protection act’ which *may* sunset several years from now, iirc, is that the chief negotiator (hah!):
“… for the US is the former Monsanto lobbyist, Islam Siddique. If ratified the TPP would impose punishing regulations that give multinational corporations unprecedented right to demand taxpayer compensation for policies that corporations deem a barrier to their profits.
There appears not to be a specific agricultural chapter in the TPP. Instead, rules affecting food systems and food safety are woven throughout the text. This agreement is attempting to establish corporations’ rights to skirt domestic courts and laws and sue governments directly with taxpayers paying compensation and fines directly from the treasury.”
then come lists of ‘things we do know’, and many would be similar for the TTIP, hence the bird finger from europe. but the patent infringements wilileaks leaked would add more and more dark layers including to ‘lost profits’ and investor state rules. so now we wait to see if the House passes fast-track authority or not. or how many potential signatory nations rebel, or even cut side deals.
but there are other former monsanto and such lobbyists in obama’s administration who are busy keepin’ the world safe for monsanto’.
mr. wd just read that post-WHO report on glyphosate, the EPA just *might* start randomly testing veg for that yummy ingredient. little late, but the fda relies on in-house testing before announcing all these products ‘safe for human consumption’. brilliant sort of corruption, in’t it?
(small) Victory Against Monsanto – Federal Judge Rules in Favor of GMO Ban
http://revolution-news.com/victory-against-monsanto-federal-judge-rules-in-favor-of-gmo-ban/
Hello wendye,
Read this the other day and it explains how Monsanto is “just,” a face of much larger connections. Connections and control by individual groups etc. one might expect for sure, but I am one who doesn’t have knowledge of what appears to be a larger and more dangerously sinister picture to be able to speak to it like this. Not discounting the public outcry and I am supportive by all means though. The face is what is visible.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/06/16/gmos-and-the-neoliberal-apologists/
On a personal note, things getting settled in on the home front. Another mouth to feed and I needed to upgrade the internet speed. Unlimited fresh greens are pure joy. ;)
even a quick read shows it’s a much wider picture, and thank you for the link. with sooo much to read, i’d skipped on by it. i had note in the OP that other agribusinesses also modify food genetically, but that bill gates’ monsanto stock is so dwarfed by other oligarchical shareholders is important to know. i did write post some time ago with a title akin to: Bono and bill gates set to bio-wreck africa’, although i don’t know if i saved a copy here. and as i said, my online amigo crossed crocodiles in ghana quit blogging to focus on the crucial issue there.
but i know how glad you are to feed her mouth in particular, and i hope you can upgrade. here, we’ve had enough hail to trounce the newly transplanted seedlings, dagnabbit. i’d be envious of your greens save for the fact that i didn’t plant any, lol. well, basil, but it’s not technically a green.
i hope you get a chance to watch/read my beethoven post; as a musician, i think you’d enjoy it. best to you, wd
added: yes, its here, as is a davos post tagged with GMO in the categories section on the right sidebar.