What You Need to Know About March Against Monsanto 2014

If you haven’t heard by now, Monsanto isn’t exactly the most popular company in the world these days. They’re responsible for a large portion of the GMO seed in this country, they’ve been known to bully farmers, and, considering all of the recent bouts to get GMO foods labeled, Monsanto is at the top of the naughty list for the anti-GMO activist. For these reasons, March Against Monsanto, a global event involving a whopping six continents (400 cities in 52 countries are slated to hold a march) is happening this weekend, on Saturday, May 24. In the U.S., 47 states will hold events!

Founded by Tami Monroe Canal as a response to the failure of California’s Proposition 37, the first March Against Monsanto took place on May 25, 2013, with estimates of hundreds of thousands of people in attendance. An estimated 350 events took place on that first march day.  A second event took place in October of 2013, which will make this Saturday’s event the third. Judging from the roster of 400 cities for this march, the event is growing in popularity with each new march.

Canal asserts that it was her children that propelled her to begin March Against Monsanto initially. Monsanto’s predatory business and corporate agricultural practices threatens their generation’s health, fertility, and longevity. “MAM supports a sustainable food production system. We must act now to stop GMOs and harmful pesticides,” she said.

Need a review of why GMOs and Monsanto are so bad? Well, according to a press release from March Against Monsanto: “GMOs are not adequately monitored to ensure public safety. Long term, independent, peer reviewed studies were not conducted before GMOs were introduced for human or animal consumption.” Do you really want untested materials in your body? We sure don’t!

What’s more is that Monsanto seems to have a close relationship with regulatory figures, meaning what they say tends to be what goes: “In the USA, the revolving door between Monsanto employees, government positions, and regulatory authorities has led to key Monsanto figures occupying positions of power at the FDA and EPA. Monsanto has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to obstruct all labeling attempts; they also suppress any research containing results not in their favor. The scientifically established health risks include, but are not limited to: organ damage, sterility, infant mortality, birth defects, auto-immune conditions, allergies and increased cancer risks.” Yikes, right?

And then, there’s that pesky little fact that so many other places around the globe don’t even allow GMOs in their food: “GMOs have been partially banned by Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Madeira, New Zealand, Peru, South America, Russia, France, Switzerland and Costa Rico, and are currently labeled in 62 countries. Despite this, factory farm animals throughout the world are still fed GMOs.” What are we missing in this country if so many other places seem to know the truth?

You may now be wondering how you can get involved. Well, March Against Monsanto organizers may still be very happy to have your help, but, if you’re short on time through this weekend, you could also simply attend the event and show your Support. Every single person in attendance at these marches is a message to the world that we won’t stand for the current system of unlabeled GMOs and corporate tyranny from Big Ag companies like Monsanto.

Image source: Creative Commons