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The March Against Monsanto is an international grassroots movement against Monsanto, a producer and supplier of genetically modified seed and of the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand. The movement was founded by Tami Canal in response to the failure of California Proposition 37, a ballot initiative which would have required labeling food products made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Advocates support mandatory labeling laws for food made from GMOs and oppose what they and others call the "Monsanto Protection Act", a policy rider found in the Farmer Assurance Provision. On May 25, 2013, an estimated 200,000 to 2 million (according to the organizers) supporters marched or rallied. Events took place in between 330 and 436 cities around the world, mostly in the United States. Canal said that the movement would continue its "anti-GMO cause" beyond the initial event.

Background

GMO controversy

Monsanto is an American multinational agricultural biotechnology company headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. It is the largest producer of genetically engineered seed. In the United States, the majority of corn, soybean, and cotton is genetically modified. Monsanto has been involved in high-profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It has been criticized by US Senator Bernie Sanders for its opposition to labeling of GMO food products.

The US Food and Drug Administration does not require labeling of GMO products in the marketplace; neither does it recognize a distinction between GMO and non-GMO foods. There is a broad scientific consensus that food on the market derived from GM crops poses no greater risk to human health than does conventional food. However, the Epoch Times says that there are farmers, doctors, and researchers who dispute that such foods are safe, and the Associated Press has reported that some consumers, companies, and organizations have advocated mandatory labeling laws due to their concerns about health and about harm to the environment. The Biotechnology Industry Organization supports voluntary labeling but opposes mandatory labeling laws because it believes it would "mislead or confuse consumers into thinking the products aren't safe". According to The Non-GMO Project, most developed nations label, restrict, or ban GMOs.

California Proposition 37 and the Farmer Assurance Provision

March Against Monsanto was created by Tami Monroe Canal, a full-time mother of two daughters. Canal was residing in California when Proposition 37 was on the ballot in November 2012. According to the Epoch Times, "Canal began the project as a Facebook page on Feb. 28, and says her anger was sparked by California’s Proposition 37 campaign to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The measure failed, but the fight gave her a clearer picture of GMOs, Monsanto, and the food manufacturers who spent $45 million to defeat the initiative." Monsanto spent $8.1 million opposing the passage of Proposition 37, making it the largest donor against the initiative.

Soon after, Canal moved to Utah where she had difficulty finding the same kinds of fresh foods and farmers' markets she had left behind in California. "I became increasingly angry every time I would go to the grocery store and spend a small fortune to ensure I wasn't feeding my family poison", she recalled. Talking about her personal motivations for starting the movement, Canal told the Salt Lake City Weekly, "Companies like Kellogg's and General Mills are putting things like Fruit Loops on the market that are basically 100 percent genetically engineered ingredients. And that's marketed to our kids."

The protest was also motivated by President Barack Obama's signing, on March 26, 2013, of the Farmer Assurance Provision, which is Section 735 of US H.R. 933. The section of the bill is called the "Monsanto Protection Act" by critics, and it authorizes the United States Department of Agriculture to allow the planting and cultivation of genetically modified food while environmental reviews are being completed, even if there is a legal ruling against their approval. Prior to the march, the group hosted an essay on their website highlighting what they saw as lack of attention to the Act in the mainstream media. Dave Murphy, founder of Food Democracy Now!, called the controversy over H.R. 933 "the turning point in the debate on political lobbying and genetic engineering in the U.S." and he described the March Against Monsanto as raising "one of the most pressing issues of our time".

Social media campaign

Canal started a Facebook social media campaign on February 28, 2013. She stated: "For too long, Monsanto has been the benefactor of corporate subsidies and political favoritism ... Organic and small farmers suffer losses while Monsanto continues to forge its monopoly over the world's food supply, including exclusive patenting rights over seeds and genetic makeup." She argued that Monsanto benefited from corporate subsidies and political favoritism and that its patent rights over the genetic makeup of seeds resulted in losses to small and organic farmers. Activists Emilie Rensink and Nick Bernabe worked with Canal to promote the march on various social media sites. By May 21, the Facebook page had attracted 85,000 members with approximately 110,000 "likes" and about 40,000 daily visitors.

March

External images
Images from The Washington Post
Timeline and images from RT

On May 25, 2013 protests took place around the world; according to organizers they took place in 436 cities in 52 countries. The Charleston Post and Courier reported 330 distinct events in 44 different nations, including about 250 protests in the USA on this day. CTV News reported the total number of participants to be 200,000; the New York Times reported "hundreds of thousands". March organizers estimated 2 million people participated.

In Southern California, protests occurred in Los Angeles, including Venice, Long Beach, and San Diego. In Los Angeles, protesters marched from Pershing Square to City Hall. Some carried signs expressing support for mandatory labeling of GMOs that read "Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know", and "Real Food 4 Real People". Dorothy Muehlmann, organizer of the L.A. march, said that they were marching to raise awareness. "This is not just a 'boo Monsanto' protest. We want more people to know so they can make their own decisions."

Environmental journalist John Upton of Grist magazine noted that the march took place two days after Senate Amendment 965 to the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 was rejected. The amendment, introduced by US Senator Bernie Sanders, was an attempt to allow states to label GMO foods. "Any U.S. senators paying attention to what was happening in the entire world over the weekend may have noticed a teensy disconnect between their protectionist votes for Monsanto and global discontent with the GMO giant," Upton wrote.

Positions

The March Against Monsanto published on its website a list of concerns, and its positions on a number of GMO issues. According to the group, the protests were held to address health and safety issues, perceived conflicts of interest, and agricultural, environmental, and legislative concerns.

The marchers expressed the belief that GM foods can adversely affect human health, with some of the protesters asserting that such foods cause cancer, infertility, and birth defects.

Protesters also asserted that GMOs might harm the environment, and play a role in declining bee populations. On the day of the march, a protester in Utah commented that he believed that GMOs were killing bees, and that Utah, as the "Beehive state", should address that issue.

The protesters argued that the Farmer Assurance Provision legislation allows Monsanto to ignore court rulings, and called for the bill's repeal. They also alleged that there was a conflict of interest between former employees of Monsanto who work for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and that Monsanto used their patent rights to create a monopoly of the food supply, which resulted in economic losses by small farmers.

Monsanto and industry response

Prior to the march, Monsanto's CEO Hugh Grant had accused the petitioners of wanting to block others from choosing more affordable food options, thus being guilty of "elitism".

Monsanto released a statement on the day of the march to the Associated Press, stating that it respected people's rights to express their opinion on the topic, but maintaining that its seeds improved agriculture by helping farmers produce more from their land while conserving resources such as water and energy. Commenting in response to news of the march, Adam Blight, corporate spokesperson for Monsanto in Australia and New Zealand, stated that GE foods were fine and that biotechnology was one of the tools to help farmers yield more from their crops and thus feed the increasing global population.

Alicia Maluafiti, executive director of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, a Hawaiian agricultural biotechnology trade association of which Monsanto is a member, responded to the march by noting that "enetically modified crops are the most tested and regulated crops, and the scientific consensus about their safety is overwhelming."

Media coverage

The protests were covered by news outlets including ABC News, the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and CNN (in the United States), and Russia Today and The Guardian (outside the United States).

No major media outlets in the US covered the event live. According to AlterNet, there was sparse mainstream coverage after the event, aside from a short followup on CNN on May 28. Radio host Thom Hartmann compared what he saw as scant coverage of the protests to the greater media attention garnered by small Tea Party rallies, a criticism also expressed by Joseph Bachman, writing in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune.

Future plans

March Against Monsanto organizer Tami Canal said she was surprised by the viral response and plans to continue raising awareness. March Against Monsanto joined forces with other GMO protest groups, including "Moms Across America" and "Occupy Monsanto", and have planned another other march for World Food Day on October 12, 2013.

See also

• Millions Against Monsanto

References

1. Berry, Ian (June 26, 2012). "Monsanto Digs Into Seeds". Wall Street Journal.
2. ^ "On the eve of March against Monsanto Senate shoots down GMO labeling bill". RT. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
3. "Boulder residents participate in worldwide March Against Monsanto". Boulder Daily Camera. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
4. ^ Quick, David (26 May 2013). "More than 100 participate in Charleston’s March Against Monsanto, one of 300+ in world on Saturday". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
5. ^ "'March Against Monsanto' comes to King Street in Kitchener". CTV News. CTV Kitchener. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
6. ^ "Protesters Around the World March Against Monsanto". USA Today. Associated Press. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
7. ^ Tapper, Jake (28 May 2013). "Millions protest genetically modified food, Monsanto". The Lead with Jake Tapper. CNN. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
8. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Board of Directors (2012). Legally Mandating GM Food Labels Could Mislead and Falsely Alarm Consumers
9. American Medical Association (2012). Report 2 of the Council on Science and Public Health: Labeling of Bioengineered Foods
10. World Health Organization. Food safety: 20 questions on genetically modified foods. Accessed December 22, 2012.
11. United States Institute of Medicine and National Research Council (2004). Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects. National Academies Press. Free full-text. National Academies Press. See pp11ff on need for better standards and tools to evaluate GM food.
12. Key S, Ma JK, Drake PM (2008). "Genetically modified plants and human health". J R Soc Med. 101 (6): 290–8. doi:10.1258/jrsm.2008.070372. PMC 2408621. PMID 18515776. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Other sources:
    • Winter CK and Gallegos LK (2006). Safety of Genetically Engineered Food. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications, Publication 8180.
    • Ronald, Pamela (2011). "Plant Genetics, Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security". Genetics. 188 (1): 11–20.
    • Miller, Henry (2009). "A golden opportunity, squandered" (PDF). Trends in biotechnology. 27 (3): 129–130.
    • Bett, Charles (August 2010). "Perspectives of gatekeepers in the Kenyan food industry towards genetically modified food". Food Policy. 35 (4): 332–340. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.01.003. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
    • Li, Quan; McCluskey, Jill; Wahl, Thomas (2004). "Effects of information on consumers' willingness to pay for GM-corn-fed beef". Journal of Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization. 2 (2): 1–16.
    • Dr. Christopher Preston, AgBioWorld 2011. Peer Reviewed Publications on the Safety of GM Foods.
14. ^ Milner, Conan (21 May 2013). "Protests Against Monsanto in 55 Countries". The Epoch Times. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
15. ^ Peterson, Eric S. (29 May 2013). "SLC March Against Monsanto". Salt Lake City Weekly. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
16. Vaughan, Adam. "Prop 37: Californian voters reject GM food labelling". The Guardian.
17. ^ "Challenging Monsanto: Over two million march the streets of 436 cities, 52 countries". RT. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
18. National Public Radio: The Salt: Did Congress Just Give GMOs A Free Pass In The Courts? March 21, 2013.
19. March Against Monsanto: How The March Against Monsanto Can (and will) Change The World
20. Murphy, Dave (28 May 2013). "Dave Murphy: The March to Stop Monsanto: Taking Back Our Food, Our Farms, Our Democracy and Our Planet". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
21. Taryn, Utiger (21 May 2013). "NZ urged to remain GE-free zone". Taranaki Daily News. p. 4. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
22. Case, Philip (31 May 2013). "March Against Monsanto planned for UK cities". Farmers Weekly. 159(22):83. Web version published online 23 May 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
23. ^ Xia, Rosanna (28 May 2013). "Hundreds in L.A. march in global protest against Monsanto, GMOs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
24. "Umstrittener Gen-Konzern: Weltweite Proteste gegen Monsanto". Der Spiegel. 26 May 2013. [English translation via Google Translate. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
25. Harman, Amy (27 July 2013). "A Race to Save the Orange by Altering Its DNA". New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
26. Millions march against GM crops | Environment | theguardian.com
27. "'March Against Monsanto' Draws As Many As 2 Million Globally, As Facebook And Twitter Once Again Show Social Media’s Effectiveness As Organizing Tools". International Business Times. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
28. Upton, John (27 May 2013). (As world marches against Monsanto, senators protect it from labeling laws. Grist. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
29. March Against Monsanto: Why Do We March?
30. Blomberg, Lindsey (26 May 2013). "The March Against Monsanto." E–The Environmental Magazine. p. 9. ISSN 1046-8021
31. See GMO controversy for the scientific consensus.
32. Osborne, Hannah (24 May 2013). "Occupy Monsanto: UK Campaigners set to Target Genetically Modified Food". International Business Times. Retrieved July 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
33. Nay, Amy. "Hundreds March Against Monsanto, Save Bees". KUTV. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
34. "'Monsanto Protection Act' might be repealed in Senate". RT. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
35. Lewis, Al (29 May 2013). "Monsanto Sows Seeds Of Protest". Fox Business Network. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
36. "March Against Monsanto in Tampa, St. Pete". WFTS-TV. Scripps Media, Inc.
37. Murray, Ryan (8 June 2013). "Backlash growing against GMOs". Daily Inter Lake. McClatchy-Tribune Regional News. Retrieved 18 June 2013; Milner, Conan (21 May 2013). "Protests Against Monsanto in 55 Countries". The Epoch Times. Retrieved 18 June 2013; For the original Bloomberg interview, see: Kaskey, Jack (15 May 2013). "Monsanto Sees 'Elitism' in Social Media-Fanned Opposition". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
38. Moayyed, Mava (27 May 2013). "Marching against genetic engineering". The Wellingtonian. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
39. Perry, Brian (26 May 2013). "Protesters against GMOs, but Monsanto says crops are safe". The Maui News. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
40. Hawaii Crop Improvement Association. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
41. Search Results for March against monsanto - ABC News
42. "Monsanto protests around the world". The Washington Post. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
43. Protesters around the world march against Monsanto
44. "Global march challenges Monsanto's dominance: TIMELINE". RT. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
45. The Guardian: Millions march against GM crops. 25 May 2013.
46. Worldwide Movement Against Monsanto Gaining Steam | Alternet
47. Hartmann, Thom (28 May 2013)."So Much For The Liberal Media". The Thom Hartmann Program. Talk Radio News Service. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
48. Bachman, Joseph (6 June 2013). "Monsanto Protests Not in the News". Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. Retrieved 21 June 2013.(subscription required)
49. Facebook page for Moms Across America
50. Short, April M. (2 June 2013). "Worldwide Movement Against Monsanto Gaining Steam". AlterNet. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

Further reading

• Annear, Steve (24 May 2013). "Thousands to Protest Genetically Modified Foods During Weekend Rally". Boston. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
• "Worldwide March Against Monsanto". Progressive 77(7):10–13. July 2013. ISSN 00330736 Parameter error in {{issn}}: Invalid ISSN.

External links

• Official website

• Protest marches
• Genetic engineering in the United States
• Monsanto