A global event challenging the agricultural behemoth Monsanto’s efforts to dominate the world food supply is taking place across the globe as millions of anti-GMO activists join forces against the biotech giant.
25 May 2014
An anti-GMO rally in downtown Portland which attracted some 6,000 activists has concluded with a big marching band performance.
People of Milwaukee turned out a thousand strong to help plant the seeds of awareness about Monsanto's unprecedented control over our food system in the US and the level of corrupt influence over US government policy-making and regulation of GE crops.
@YourAnonNews Great turnout for today's @MarchAgainstM#Monsanto#EndMonsanto rally in Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/fr9bbcW5X6
— OverpassLightBrigade (@OLBLightBrigade) May 25, 2014
Over 1,000 people turned up at a rally against Monsanto in Vancouver, as Police cordoned streets surrounding the Art Gallery for activists to proceed downtown.
24 May 2014
Recently, more than 350,000 registered voters in the US state of Washington signed a petition demanding that raw or processed foods sold in state should be labeled. MAM activist in Seattle have gathered in support of this petion and to expose Monsanto's role in food mislabeling.
Mon$atan & #biotech corps r killing millions of #bees w #toxic chemicals #MarchAgainstMonsantohttp://t.co/O63zV0Xedfpic.twitter.com/M6hXq7z0CO
— Organic Live Foods (@OrganicLiveFood) May 25, 2014
In an effort to connect to the Hollywood community and urban farming initiatives, activists asked their supporters to bring gardening supplies to educate the local community about sustainable farming methods.
Kansas City has also staged a rally to raise global awareness of the impact of Monsanto's insecticides on the environment.
In Las Vegas hundreds wore red clothes and gave out flyers to increase GMO awareness as the crowd marched through the Strip protesting Monsanto's global practices.
#MarchAgainstMonsanto in Las Vegas, NV http://t.co/4w3wFN9ouhpic.twitter.com/balOuNwXxu
— Organic Live Foods (@OrganicLiveFood) May 25, 2014
In Dallas, Texas, MAM attracted hundreds of environmental and food activists that demanded a full boycott of GMO use in US.
#MarchAgainstMonsanto#MarchAgainstMonsantoDallas#GMO#GMOFree#Monsanto#Dallaspic.twitter.com/9p3Jmp4DWU
— Wes Howard (@SagaciousWes) May 25, 2014
Activists in Salt Lake City, Utah wore gas masks, held signs, or dressed in costumes to protest the global giant Monsanto.
“As a subcontractor, they actually provide the defoliants–which are basically chemicals and pesticides that are sprayed all over the Columbian countryside, so it’s not just that they are modifying foods or producing GMOs: they’re active participants in murdering the people of the world,” said Gregory Lucero, a local student activist.
In Yucatán peninsula in Mexico, home of the Maya, activists support indigenous people's farming methods.
Agrupaciones civiles protestan en Yucatán contra la transacional Monsanto y sus transgénicos pic.twitter.com/SznokLSux3
— LectorMx (@LectorMx) May 24, 2014
Mexicans opposed to the the planting and marketing of GMO products in the country participated in the Corn Carnival in Mexico city.
Como parte de una jornada mundial, activistas marchan del Ángel al Monumento a la Revolución contra Monsanto pic.twitter.com/yJyGGeBp06
— REFORMACOM (@REFORMACOM) May 24, 2014
"Celebrate life! We attack Monsanto subversively with laughter and fun. Defend our heritage from those who seek to patent seeds and profit from our land and health," expressed the activists.
Imágenes de la marcha mundial contra Monsanto #FueraMonsanto#marchagainstmonsantohttp://t.co/7CWr6IiMd0pic.twitter.com/3dNizJtXND
— Amado Angulo (@AmadoBC) May 24, 2014
Around 5,000 activists gathered near Union Square and marched towards the City Hall in San Francisco, demanding the stop to GMO.
SF & global anti-GMO action: People unite against Monsanto dominance http://t.co/slXkEN5RY2#marchagainstmonsantopic.twitter.com/4yEqixZKou
— jimm (@upandbeyond) May 24, 2014
In Los Angeles, demonstrators waved signs that read "Real Food 4 Real People" and "Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know." Most activists came with their children.
The youth is out at the Van Nuys March Against Monsanto! GMOs are the darkside. #LosAngelespic.twitter.com/99FYNXdD1P
— Walker Foley (@WalkerFoley) May 24, 2014
In the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires hundreds gathered to promote organic solutions, support local farmers and protect the environment.
Continúa la jornada mundial contra Monsanto en Plaza San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina #FueraMonsanto#EndMonsantopic.twitter.com/QQWTm2X9lf
— FUERA MONSANTO (@Noamonsanto) May 24, 2014
Chicago anti-GMO activists target some of the US's largest mutual funds that invest heavily in Monsanto.
Chicago enche a Praça Federal na Marcha Mundial contra a Monsanto. #MarchAgainstMonsanto via @MarchOnMonsanto#MAM I pic.twitter.com/QNNv0A5kZz
— Portal Desacato (@desacatobrasil) May 24, 2014
Protesters in the state which also houses the second largest number of Monsanto’s plants and facilities in the US, argue that “crops have been contaminated from cross-pollinating and spillage from Monsanto’s genetically engineered crops, and its herbicides and pesticides have been linked to serious health threats.”
Over 100 people have joined the march against Monsanto on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
HOY: Marcha en contra de Monsanto. #PuertoRico#MarchAgainstMonsantopic.twitter.com/g5B2melOvH
— Puerto Rico Libre (@MPPI_PR) May 24, 2014
March Against Monsanto Denver organized a family event with music, GMO education, and fun for the kids, including a Butterfly Wing Making Craft Area.
#endmonsanto Denver pic.twitter.com/O26BeUl3L8
— Wave of Action (@indigojourney) May 24, 2014
Monsanto issued a response to Saturday's global marches.
“The 22,000 people of Monsanto are committed to having an open dialogue about food and agriculture – we’re proud of the work we do, and we’re eager for people to know more about us,” said Charla Lord, spokeswoman for Monsanto.
“We’re also proud of our collaboration with farmers and partnering organizations that help make a more balanced meal accessible for everyone. Our goal is to help farmers do this using fewer resources and having a smaller impact on the environment. We know people have different points of view on these topics, and it’s important that they’re able to express and share them.”
Families gathered at Victoria Park in London, Canada in solidarity with the Global March Against Monsanto to show the world that “holding Monsanto executives and Monsanto-supporting politicians accountable through direct communication, grassroots journalism, social media” can solve the world’s food consumption problems.
Tampa joined the global March Against Monsanto in downtown Ybor City in Florida today. The march was calling for GMO (genetically modified organisms) to be labelled and eventually banned.
Despite the drizzle hundreds marched against Monsanto in Nottingham, UK trying to pressure the politicians to ban GMO seeds in the country.
“GM crops enter Britain mainly as animal feed. There is no commercial growing, but there have been experimental trials of GM potatoes and wheat in recent years,” the activist's press release reads.
“In 2014, a trial of GM Camila sativa ("false flax") is planned, which has a genetically altered oil content (high in omega-3). But we do use their chemicals to kill pests, but these also kill bees, butterflies and wash into waterways poisoning aquatic life.”
Thousands from the New York City Chapter of the Millions Against Monsanto Campaign marched through the streets of the Big Apple calling on government to introduce appropriate GMO labels.
Organizers claim that “genetically engineered food ingredients from biotech crops and animals are different from conventional and organic food ingredients,” in that GE-fed animals suffer from birth defects or lose their ability to reproduce altogether.
MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO NYC #mam#mamnyc#marchmay24#nogmo#protestpic.twitter.com/QPsYnBHyyu
— Michael Nigro (@Nigrotime) May 24, 2014
“But, genetically engineered foods are not labeled in the US and most places, making it difficult to avoid them and impossible to track their effects on the population.”
March Against Monsanto in the German city of Freiburg led to a McDonald’s invasion and a flash-mob in support of the non GMO fruits.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Moscow on Saturday for a "People and animals vs GMO" rally, part of the worldwide march against US chemical and agricultural company Monsanto.
Clad in colourful T-shirts with letter inscriptions, demonstrators lined up to build slogans such as "Russia without GMO" and "GMO free".
Dance off against GMOs in Seoul, South Korea.
Civilian Media is live streaming from the March Against Monsanto Event in Toronto, Canada.
Crowd gathering for #RequiemForBees at Queen's Park - info: http://t.co/5sbtd0cL65#MarchAgainstMonsantopic.twitter.com/Ym3iUiZMew
— Nathalie-Roze & Co. (@NRandCo) May 24, 2014
March against #Monsanto and #GMO in #munich . No to TTIP! #sonnepic.twitter.com/41w0a6a8Y5
— Grüne Gräfelfing (@GraefelGruene) May 24, 2014
Alexis Baden-Mayer, Political Director at Organic Consumers Association, told RT the claim we need genetically modified food to feed the world “is completely false.”
“We actually have enough grassland in the United States to pasture and raise 100 percent grass-fed beef. So no, the feed the world argument is entirely accurate in the slightest,” she said.
Protesters deploy anagrams to express their Monsanto ire in the heart of Europe.
Small anti #GMO demo today in #Brussels good signs though. pic.twitter.com/M6cMrVXTKW
— Peter Oliver (@PeterGOliver_RT) May 24, 2014
#marchagainstmonsanto in Bergen, Norway pic.twitter.com/MlPLANn7H5
— Bibow (@Bibow) May 24, 2014
March Against Monsanto Founder Tami Canal has told The Anti-Media that Saturday’s event will mark the largest event ever carried out by the movement.
“The 3rd global March Against Monsanto (MAM) is expected to be the biggest one yet. With 43 countries on 6 continents, MAM has coordinated 366 official events, with countless others not officially registered.”
Canal notes how what once started as a California ballot measure requiring the labeling of genetically modified food “has turned into a global movement to educate against all fallacies of Monsanto."
“From Agent Orange to Monsanto’s pending patents directly affiliated with weather modification to the gross government corruption, MAM has evolved to expose all the insidious tentacles that Monsanto possesses.”
#Frankfurt#MarchAgainstMonsanto#MayOfSolidarity#Europe4the99#Blockupy@global_project@beppecaccia@Blockupypic.twitter.com/Hbzf9THeUb
— Thomas Occupy (@ThomasOccupy) May 24, 2014
Activists in the UK capital London also took part in the anti-Monsanto march, demanding adequate monitoring of GMOs to ensure public safety.
“Long term, independent, peer reviewed studies were not conducted before GMOs were introduced for human or animal consumption,” organizers say, claiming that boycotting GMO in food production is the only way forward.
Dozens of Indians protest against so-called terminator seeds, genetically modified sterile seeds which present farmers from saving their seeds for the next year.
Monsanto says it has never “commercialized sterile seeds.
“Fact: Monsanto has never commercialized a biotech trait that resulted in sterile – or “Terminator” – seeds. Sharing the concerns of small landholder farmers, Monsanto made a commitment in 1999 not to commercialize sterile seed technology in food crops. We stand firmly by this commitment, with no plans or research that would violate this commitment.”
March against Monsanto in London.
A comprehensive list has been made available by March Against Monsanto. According to a statement by organizers:
"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. Currently, marches will occur on six continents, in 52 countries,with events in over 400 cities. In the US, solidarity marches are slated to occur in 47 states."
An interactive map giving details on individual march locations can be viewed here.
Anonymous activists take a less than subtle approach to get the word out about the March Against Monsanto in Miami.
#marchagainstmonsanto#miami#anonymous#monsantopic.twitter.com/osxjoxm8MM
— Anonymous ∞ (@AnonExpectOps) May 23, 2014
GMO protest in Seoul, South Korea with cellist outside of Monsanto HQ.
RT #MarchAgainstMonsanto TODAY #May24 1:30pm at Victoria Park #LdnOnthttps://t.co/kdOM6fab98#StopGMO#MAM#MarchMay24#StopMonsanto#GMO
— Kevin Jones (@occupywsib) May 24, 2014
As North America wakes up, March Against Monsanto marches and rallies are planned for scores of cities across the continent.
March Against Monsanto hits the port city of Durban, South Africa.
#MarchAgainstMonsanto#CapeTown was not given a permit to March by @CityofCapeTown_ so the #Marikana supporters invited us to join them.
— Heike Brunner (@heikebru) May 24, 2014
Join the #MarchMay24#MarchAgainstMonsanto in Hollywood at 10am! 7564 Sunset blvd.
— Crista (@SuperCrista) May 24, 2014
The March Against Monsanto has hit the Down Under, with rallies taking place from coast to Golden Coast.
#MAM#MarchAgainstMonsanto#brisbanepic.twitter.com/Cw7Ku4sLRc
— Tracey Bradley (@wfmwk) May 24, 2014
About to march through the city #MarchAgainstMonsanto#Perthpic.twitter.com/0TcGpnjAw4
— Sir Peter the Bogan (@P_bogan) May 24, 2014
March Against Monsanto hits Cape Town, South Africa.
#MarchAgainstMonsanto#CapeTown If you eat to live, Monsanto's dealings ARE your business. pic.twitter.com/GJRfHlRppN
— Heike Brunner (@heikebru) May 24, 2014
Massive March Against Monsanto in Accra underway. A coalition of 7 groups protesting. #MarchMay24pic.twitter.com/aHUPAhRKy2
— Nii Ayertey Aryeh (@nii_ayertey) May 24, 2014
Protesters in the Northern Italian city of Trento gather outside a Eurospar supermarket to protest the use of GMOs and fight for what they describe as "food sovereignty."
Peasant farmers in Accra, the capital of Ghana, join the global day of action against Monsanto.
8:36am Accra gathering for the global March Against Monsanto, locally led by @FoodSovereignGH#MarchMay24pic.twitter.com/iuBDHekKXY
— Nii Ayertey Aryeh (@nii_ayertey) May 24, 2014
Ashaiman Peasant Farmers at 'March Against Monsanto' in Accra w/ @FoodSovereignGH#MarchMay24pic.twitter.com/hb1h6meOvr
— Nii Ayertey Aryeh (@nii_ayertey) May 24, 2014
Russian activists against genetically modified organisms are holding a rally in downtown Moscow under the banner “Russia without GMOs.”
“It is the only day of protest against the dominance of GMO on the planet. On this day, people are gathering in more than 50 countries in order to state their civil stance,” said Elena Sharoykina from the National Organization of Genetic Safety, Interfax News Agency reports.
According to her, the activists are in favor of a moratorium on GMOs in Russia.
“Of course we can’t ban [GMO’s], as we’ve joined the WTO (World Trade Organization)”, she said.
But Sharoykina says that shouldn’t stop the introduction of legislation which would require produce sellers to inform customers about the composition and origins of their goods, giving people the opportunity to choose products with or without GMOs.
The Tauranga New Zealand "March Against Monsanto" rally on Red Square.
Protesters take to the streets of Bangalore, one of seven locations across India where Monsanto has R&D seed breeding stations. The other six locations are in Abohar, Aurangabad, Dharwad, Ghaziabad, Kallakal and Sonepat. The firm also has a seed processing plants at Shamirpet near Hyderabad.
Within India, Monsanto’s vegetable seed products include broccoli, cabbage, carrot, leek, cauliflower, cucumber, lettuce, sweet corn, tomato, pepper, onion and eggplant.
The most controversial Monsanto stables in India, however, have been Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton and Bt brinjal.
According to March Against Monsanto’s press release: “in India, more than 250,000 farmers have committed suicide after Monsanto’s Bt cotton seeds did not perform as promised.”
Many others have accused bio-tech firms of marginalizing farmers’ rights.
Activists in Bangalore wear respirators as a sign of protest against Monsanto #MarchAgainstMonsanto#SayNoToGMpic.twitter.com/bHcHeUZT2J
— Greenpeace India (@greenpeaceindia) May 24, 2014
Bangaloreans take to the streets to kick Monsanto out of India #marchagainstmonsantopic.twitter.com/BnG0pBmlND
— Brikesh (@Brikesh) May 24, 2014
Monsanto and other biotech companies are campaigning to prevent the public from realizing that GMOs are actually a pollutant and must be treated as such, Robert Verkerk from the Alliance for Natural Health told RT.
“GMOs are effectively polluting non-GMO agriculture. In every other facet of our lives polluters must pay. This is one very unique example where polluted doesn’t pay any penalty, and everyone else pays instead,” he said.
“I think we will not see a change until we see a more widespread recognition that GMOs are in fact a polluting agent,” he added. “The GMO and biotech interest groups work very hard to try and prove that there is no significant difference between the health effects of consuming GM foods versus non-GMO foots by controlling research and damning research that might oppose to what they are saying.”
Photo coverage of March Against Monsanto in Sydney! http://t.co/BvhmtZEICo#MAM#ENDMONSANTO#GMOPOISONS#NO2GMO
— Sergio Leyva (@sergiolsphoto) May 24, 2014
South Korean activists protested against Monsanto in front of the company’s HQ in Seoul.
Veterans for Peace, a Missouri-headquartered anti-war NGO, stands in solidarity with the March against Monsanto, it said Saturday in a statement. The organization blames Monsanto for the toxic legacy it left in Vietnam, being the prime producer of the defoliant Agent Orange, used extensively by the US military during the Vietnam War.
Veterans For Peace stands in solidarity with the March Against Monsanto, happening on Saturday May 24th. Millions... http://t.co/mTJWzUORpF
— Veterans For Peace (@VFPNational) May 24, 2014
Around 5,000 activists plan to attend March Against Monsanto in San Francisco, scheduled to start on Union Square at 12:00 PST. The organizers encourage costumes in protest of the insecticides killing many of the bee and butterfly populations.
Global day of solidarity tomorrow! #NoGMO#Monsantopic.twitter.com/nI0SxUp9eF
— Monkey Wrench News (@SeaSanctum) May 23, 2014
To encourage people to attend the rally, social media activists flooded the event's SF Facebook page with videos of their interpretation of Monsanto's role in global food production.
In North Dakota’s capital, Bismarck, organizers are also planning to make their voice heard.
“GMOs are plants or animals that have been genetically modified using DNA material from other plants, animals, bacteria or viruses,” March organizer Jessica Horst was quoted by a local publication. “While there are a number of agriculture biotechnology companies engaged in producing GMOs, Monsanto is the largest.”
One of the main hotspots of the world's wine industry, Sonoma county in California plans to march on Memorial Day.
Occupy Sonoma County is collaborating with the March against Monsanto global action and is planning to host a potluck and barn dance to make the event fun for the entire family.
Free food samples will be provided by some whom the organization calls “Food Heroes” listed in “GMO Food Heroes and Health Food Traitors Shopper’s Guide.” A free non-GMO seed exchange is also organized.
The GMO Free Sonoma County movement is working locally on an ordinance to prohibit propagation, cultivation, raising and growing GMOs in Sonoma County.
Big Difference. pic.twitter.com/MLloz5ZwcW
— Randy Prine (@randyprine) February 25, 2014
Hacktivist group Anonymous gave their blessing for a March against Monsanto, saying that “those who oppose Monsanto's destructive impact on our biosphere and our food supply will have their voices heard.”
In a video posted ahead of the global event the activists accuse Monsanto of a profit-driven approach.
Activists in five Ohio cities this weekend are joining up to protest the practices of the biotech giant.
March Against Monsanto events will be held in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and Maumee to draw attention to the use of GMOs that are thought to impact human health.
"In other countries, genetically modified organisms are altogether banned or they at least have labeling laws that require the companies to label if there are genetically modified organisms in the food,” Hannah Daniels, an organizer of the march in Cleveland told the local news station ahead of the event. “And in America, there is nothing like that at all."
Thousands of Arizona residents are expected to gather in downtown Tempe to take part in the global action day against Monsanto.
March Against Monsanto this Saturday at Westlake Park. Starting at 11:00 am. Be there or be square! :) #GMOs#Seattlepic.twitter.com/oA8Y8OmzPa
— Tiffany Desiree (@TiffanyDesiree6) May 23, 2014
The march is being described as a family event where parents are encouraged to dress their kids as ladybugs, bees with wings and antennae. Adults are welcome to wear hazardous materials suits, gas masks, and gardener attire.
Chattanooga, the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee is also hosting an anti-Monsanto rally, with face-painting scheduled to begin at 1pm local time, before marching starts through downtown. The organizers will be giving away seedlings and information about Monsanto.
Participants are asked to bring signs, music makers, extra seedlings and a wagon or wheelbarrow. The event is organized to be kid-friendly with chalk art, seed-bomb making, and sliding down a grassy hill.
“I don't think a chemical company known for producing Agent Orange should produce and control the majority of our seeds. It is time we demand transparency and accountability,” Drew Miller, lead organizer of the Chattanooga March Against Monsanto said.
Agroecology and not biotechnology is the way to sustainable agriculture and to tackle world hunger, believes the organizer of the march in Ecuador.
“Monsanto’s harmful practices are causing soil infertility, mono-cropping, loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction, and contributing to beehive collapse. GMO crops cross pollinate with traditional crops, risking peasant farmers’ livelihood,” Josh Castro, organizer for the Quito March Against Monsanto movement.
In India Monsanto controls about 95 percent of the cotton seed market trapping the country's small farmers in unpayable debt.
“284,000 farmers have committed suicide in India because of debt linked to seed and chemicals,” Vandana Shiva, an Indian environmental activist and anti-globalization author said in a press release ahead of the March Against Monsanto.
“Monsanto have claimed more than 1500 climate resilient patents, and are hoping to use the climate crisis to make even bigger profits,” Shiva says claiming that “Monsanto wants super profits through total control over nature and humanity.”
“If we fail to realize that March Against Monsanto is not about GMOs alone, then we have already lost the battle,” said the founder of the March Against Monsanto’s Agent Orange awareness program, Kelly L. Derricks ahead of the march, Center of Research for Globalization quotes.
The organization's main role is to increase awareness of Agent Orange, manufactured by Monsanto during the Vietnam War era and used by US forces in herbicide warfare that killing tens of thousands.
Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) and the Coalition of Farmers against Genetically Modified Organisms will take part in a silent march in Accra against the imposition of GMOs on Ghanaians.
“There is a lot that is at stake here: our health as a people, our environment, our sovereignty, and our prosperity! It is unacceptable that even though an overwhelming number of Ghanaians who know what is going on are strongly opposed to it, but our political class and some agents of the multinational corporations are so keen on imposing it on Ghanaians,” the movement states on their website.
Last year over 2 million people in 436 cities in 52 countries worldwide marched against the largest producer of genetically engineered seeds.
Just before the global march kicks off, RT's Abby Martin calls on her viewers to take part in the March Against Monsanto.