March Against Monsanto

Discuss the application of the Dharma to situations of social, political, environmental and economic suffering and injustice.
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Roland
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March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

On May 25, activists around the world will unite to March Against Monsanto.

Why do we march?

- Research studies have shown that Monsanto’s genetically-modified foods can lead to serious health conditions such as the development of cancer tumors, infertility and birth defects.
- In the United States, the FDA, the agency tasked with ensuring food safety for the population, is steered by ex-Monsanto executives, and we feel that’s a questionable conflict of interests and explains the lack of government-led research on the long-term effects of GM products.
- Recently, the U.S. Congress and president collectively passed the nicknamed “Monsanto Protection Act” that, among other things, bans courts from halting the sale of Monsanto’s genetically-modified seeds.
- 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.
- Monsanto's GM seeds are harmful to the environment; for example, scientists have indicated they have contributed to Colony Collapse Disorder among the world's bee population.

What are solutions we advocate?

- Voting with your dollar by buying organic and boycotting Monsanto-owned companies that use GMOs in their products.
- Labeling of GMOs so that consumers can make those informed decisions easier.
- Repealing relevant provisions of the US's "Monsanto Protection Act."
- Calling for further scientific research on the health effects of GMOs.
- Holding Monsanto executives and Monsanto-supporting politicians accountable through direct communication, grassroots journalism, social media, etc.
- Continuing to inform the public about Monsanto's secrets.
- Taking to the streets to show the world and Monsanto that we won't take these injustices quietly.
March Against Monsanto

List of participating cities and links to corresponding Facebook pages
Last edited by Roland on Tue May 07, 2013 8:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

Posted: 29 April 2013
One mega-company is gradually taking over our global food supply, poisoning our politics and putting the planet’s food future in serious danger. To stop it we need to expose and break up Monsanto’s worldwide grip.

Monsanto, the chemical giant that gave us poisons like Agent Orange and DDT, has a super-profitable racket. Step 1: Develop pesticides and genetically modified (GM) seeds designed to resist them, patent the seeds, prohibit farmers from replanting their seeds year to year, then send undercover agents out to investigate and sue farmers who don’t comply. Step 2: Spend millions lobbying government officials and contributing to political campaigns, get former Monsanto bigwigs into top government jobs, and then work with them to weaken regulations and push Monsanto goods into markets across the world.

As long as US law allows corporations to spend unlimited sums to influence policy, they can often buy the laws they want. Last year, Monsanto and biotech giants spent a whopping $45m to kill a ballot initiative that would have labelled GMO products just in California, despite 82 percent of Americans wanting to know if they are buying GM. And just this month, the company helped ram through the "Monsanto Protection Act," that blocks courts from stopping the sale of a product even if they’ve been wrongly approved by the government.

Monsanto’s power in the US gives them a launch pad to dominate across the world. But brave farmers and activists from the EU, to Brazil, to India and Canada are resisting and starting to win.

We’re at a global tipping point. Donate now to join forces to break Monsanto’s grip on our politics and our food and help stop the corporate capture of our governments.
Break Monsanto's grip
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

Posted: 9 April 2013
It’s unbelievable, but Monsanto and Co. are at it again. These profit-hungry biotech companies have found a way to gain exclusive control over the seeds of life – the source of our food. They’re trying to patent away varieties of our everyday vegetables and fruits like cucumber, broccoli and melons, virtually forcing growers to pay them for seed and risk being sued if they don’t.

But we can stop them from buying up Mother Earth. Companies like Monsanto have found loopholes in European law to have exclusive rights over conventional seeds, so we just need to close them shut before they set a dangerous global precedent. And to do that, we need key countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands -- where opposition is already growing -- to call for a vote to stop Monsanto’s greedy plans. The Avaaz community has shifted governments before, and we can do it again.

Many farmers and politicians are already against this -- we just need to bring in people power to pressure these countries to keep Monsanto’s hands off our food. Sign now and share with everyone to help build the biggest food defense call ever.
Monsanto vs. Mother Earth
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greentara
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by greentara »

It's chilling when you read how much power Monsanto has. World governments seem to be too weak to counter the rapacious buying up of all seeds. The trouble is most political parties only look forward to the next cycle of elections. They seem to have no long term plan, no real vision for the future of protecting people or the planet.
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

It is creepy that a former vice president of Monsanto was appointed to the position of senior adviser of the FDA who also had worked for the FDA in different positions since working for Monsanto. Allegedly, the same person who, as the Food Safety Czar, allowed GMOs into the US without testing the safety of them.

On a positive note, many countries, counties and states have banned GMOs, so some progress has and is being made.
"Seek truth in meditation, not moldy books. Look in the sky to find the moon, not in the pond."
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

EU legislation on the Marketing of Seed and Plant Propagating Material
On 6th May, the European Commission will submit a draft provision for the revision of EU seed legislation. The provision includes high charges for the admission procedure and new licensing and certification requirements which would be insuperable for small breeders. It would cause a threat to many old and local fruit, grain and vegetable varieties, and endanger the development of crop diversity. It would also make the free exchange of seeds and seedlings more difficult, and lead to an unavoidable rise in industrial breeds.

Save Our Seeds considers the latest version of the draft published by the Commissioner of Health and Consumer Policy, Tonio Borg, to be unacceptable and requests the Commission to decline the proposal. Save Our Seeds is calling for more seed diversity and participation by farmers, gardeners and breeders across Europe. Only this way can our agricultural and food system adapt to changing environmental conditions and consumer requirements, and defy domination by an ever smaller number of international seed companies in a sustainable manner.
From an open letter sent to seven EU Commissioners and Members of the European Parliament by Save Our Seeds:
...A change is badly needed, as the current legislation has contributed to a massive loss of biodiversity in European agriculture over the last decades. The legislation disproportionately discriminated against actors in the seed sector that have objectives that go beyond productivity, and it has restricted consumers´ choice in accessing diverse varieties.

Therefore, the review must be rebalanced. Protecting and increasing agricultural biodiversity has to become the first goal of the review. Offering seed users a greater choice of varieties, including seeds most adapted to local conditions would help, in relation with appropriate agricultural practices such as crop rotation, to reduce dependency on pesticides, fertilisers and water demand. This would lead to less pollution of soil and water and therefore contribute to a more sustainable and diversified agriculture, which in turn would enhance the diversity of wild plants, animals and micro-organisms...

...However, today ten multinationals are controlling 74% of the global seed market (2) and the concentration process is still going on. Many of those companies provide genetically narrow varieties and seeds that cannot be reproduced, leading to alarming dependency for farmers and consumers on one hand and ecological risks connected to genetic uniformity such as poor pest resilience on the other hand....

...Representing civil society as organisations working on environment and biodiversity issues including actors from the seed sector like small and organic breeders, suppliers, farmers, gardeners, seed savers, consumer cooperatives and consumers, we call on you to take a stand for an environmentally and consumer friendly S&PM regulation. This must allow for the marketing of less homogenous, but genetically broader and better locally adapted varieties, and remove obstacles to the marketing and the exchange of seeds of old, rare and farmers´ varieties, to enhance diversity and sustainability in European agriculture and better meet consumers´ demands...
Open Letter
Petition
Save Our Seeds
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mandala
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by mandala »

This is such a vital concern to the world's food supply and I'm constantly amazed at how it even got this far (ok, of course it's all about the mighty dollar).

I'll be at the March against Monsanto rally in my town - but more than marching against what we DON'T want, I hope plenty of others will also take the opportunity to use the platform FOR mandatory GMO labelling.

And bringing the fight to my own backyard first, I grow all organic, Heirloom varieties of herbs & veg... Monsanto aren't getting into my little patch of dirt, HELLS NO!
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

I hope that it does not get violent.

I hope that the movement becomes exponentially larger but stays peaceful.

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Update: The petition Monsanto vs Mother Earth recently surpassed 2 million signatures and is still growing.
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mandala
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by mandala »

Coming up soon! For event listing worldwide, check out:

http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/p/blog-page.html

I don't expect any violence at the Australian rallies, they're billed as family-friendly affairs.. looking forward to a nice day out!

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Lhug-Pa
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Lhug-Pa »

mandala wrote:I'll be at the March against Monsanto rally in my town - but more than marching against what we DON'T want, I hope plenty of others will also take the opportunity to use the platform FOR mandatory GMO labelling.
Article:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/ ... 102802.cfm



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Lhug-Pa
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Lhug-Pa »

Bill Gates is also all about Monsanto, by the way.

Anyway yeah, like mandala said here; less about what we don't want, and more about what we do want:

Label GMO's & label foods sprayed with synthetic-chemical pesticides; and let's all eat organically-grown food:



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[quote="Malcolm—in the "Plant Sentient" thread—"]
The Taittirīya Upanishad wrote:"All beings that exist on earth are born of food. Then they live by food: then, again, to food they go in the end. So, verily food is the eldest of all creatures."
[/quote]
The Taittirīya Upaniṣad wrote:“From Atman did space come into being;
from space, air;
from air, fire;
from fire, the waters,
from the waters, the earth;
from the earth, plants;
from plants, food;
and from food, man...”
:anjali:
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

Updated infographic:

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Another petition:
Tell Congress: Don't Pass a Farm Bill that Lets Monsanto Wipe Out State GMO Labeling Laws!

I want you, as my elected official in Congress, to know that you will lose my vote, regardless of your party affiliation, if you support the King Amendment, or any other amendment in the 2013 Farm Bill that would nullify states' rights to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs). I belong to the more than 90% of Americans who want what consumers in more than 60 other countries already have: mandatory GMO-labeling laws. Even more important, I expect you to represent me, not a corporation, and to protect the more than 225-year-old right of states, counties, and cities to enact laws that protect the health and environment of local citizens. This isn't just about GMO labeling. It's about states' rights.
Sign Petition

In other news:

In the city in which I reside, we just had a "coordinator's meeting" for the march on the 25th.

Apparently, in a close by city, there is a group, of which no one could remember the name of, that is an anti-Monsanto group but are planning on starting fights with those who will be participating in the march. It is not clear why they are doing this, but it is something to look out for for those in other cities, although I'm not sure if it is an isolated group in these few cities or if it is a larger, country wide or worldwide organization. We called the local police to tell them of the march and that any violence caused will not be the fault of our own. Any violence would be caused by this "infiltrator" group. I encourage others to spread the word in their city and to contact their local coordinators. The names of coordinators can be found on Facebook on the particular page for your local city (March Against Monsanto - [city name]).

There will also be Monsanto employees at these events, wearing sunglasses and shirts with a "Monsanto" label on them. They are, of course, allowed to be there, but their intention is to try to intimidate those protesting. DO NOT BECOME INTIMIDATED!

Alert your local coordinators or police ASAP if any of these issues arise during the march so nothing escalates into reaction, overreaction, and violence. We don't need to give the media anything negative that is of no fault of our own so that they can twist it into inaccurate, bad media coverage.

Stay peaceful.
Last edited by Roland on Sun May 19, 2013 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

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Lhug-Pa
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Lhug-Pa »

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Other countries who have banned Monsanto:

Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Madeira, New Zealand, Peru, South Australia, Russia, France, and Switzerland!

And also Bhutan and some Counties in the U.S.A.


It will be great if this happens in America during the March Against Monsanto:


Monsanto Exposed wrote:German Police Officers Take Off Helmets & Marched With German Citizens Against Rothschild European Central Bank!


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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

Thank you for providing that list of countries who have banned GMOs and Monsanto.

I meant to post this documentary earlier, but I had forgotten about posting it because it had been a while since I watched it. It is very good. It covers the everything.
There's nothing they are leaving untouched: the mustard, the okra, the bringe oil, the rice, the cauliflower. Once they have established the norm: that seed can be owned as their property, royalties can be collected. We will depend on them for every seed we grow of every crop we grow. If they control seed, they control food, they know it -- it's strategic. It's more powerful than bombs. It's more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world. The story starts in the White House, where Monsanto often got its way by exerting disproportionate influence over policymakers via the "revolving door". One example is Michael Taylor, who worked for Monsanto as an attorney before being appointed as deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. While at the FDA, the authority that deals with all US food approvals, Taylor made crucial decisions that led to the approval of GE foods and crops. Then he returned to Monsanto, becoming the company's vice president for public policy.

Thanks to these intimate links between Monsanto and government agencies, the US adopted GE foods and crops without proper testing, without consumer labeling and in spite of serious questions hanging over their safety. Not coincidentally, Monsanto supplies 90 percent of the GE seeds used by the US market. Monsanto's long arm stretched so far that, in the early nineties, the US Food and Drugs Agency even ignored warnings of their own scientists, who were cautioning that GE crops could cause negative health effects. Other tactics the company uses to stifle concerns about their products include misleading advertising, bribery and concealing scientific evidence.
phpBB [video]


:twisted:
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mandala
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by mandala »

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greentara
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by greentara »

I think it was Gandhi who said "How is it then that I have become so evil and destestable?" This is the story of Monsanto and other huge corporations that dot the planet and exploit ordinary people with scant attention to their welfare and needs.
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Roland
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Roland »

The March Against Monsanto campaign is almost entirely centralized on Facebook. Apparently, there are Monsanto employees commenting on the main page and on individual city pages to try and misinform people and change their opinions. Also, there is talk that Facebook is censoring a lot of the pages and posts related to the March Against Monsanto. It would not surprise me if the entities are in cahoots. I have not seen these things myself and am relying entirely other's words and my own speculation on these two issues.

When I type GMOs [space] into Google search, in the auto-fill drop down box, the first 2 most searched for results are "GMOs are good" and "GMOs are safe". It is possible that this is also the work of Monsanto trying to spread more disinformation by misleading people who search for information on GMOs in Google. I'm fairly certain that this was not the case in the past when searching for GMOs. This again is only my speculation.

At a local health food store, health inspectors said that selling milk without rBGH is not safe. I imagine this was a lobby. The owner of the store replied that the customers want milk without rBGH, so he will continue to sell it regardless.

Some Good News:

The restaurant "Chipotle" has announced their support for the GMO labeling bill in California (CA Prop 37) and now labels GMOs.

The state of Connecticut has passed a GMO label bill with a vote of 35-1.

Hungary burned 1000 acres of GMO corn. :toilet:

Very happy to see changes continuing and occurring even before the day of the March.

Another Petition:
Petition Background
It's one of the most outrageous special interest provisions in years.

Written anonymously, the Monsanto Protection Act allows corporations to sell genetically-modified seeds even when federal courts have blocked them from doing so.

Think about that: We have a process for making sure that genetically-modified seeds aren’t sold, planted and grown until we know that they don’t pose a threat to other crops or to humans.

The Monsanto Protection Act overrides that process. It lets Monsanto and others ignore a court order designed to protect other farmers, the environment, and human health. That's just wrong.

And even worse, the Monsanto Protection Act was passed in secret, stuffed quietly into the budget bill that averted a government shutdown.
That's why I've proposed an amendment to the Farm Bill that would repeal the Monsanto Protection Act. Please join me - and demand a vote in the U.S. Senate that would end this outrageous special interest override of judicial decisions.

Senator Jeff Merkley
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/repeal ... -3t%3Dezkx



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~Old Monsanto had a farm, GM GM O~

:stirthepot:
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greentara
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by greentara »

Eating genetically modified corn (GMO corn) has caused rats to develop horrifying tumors, widespread organ damage, and premature death. That's the conclusion of a shocking new study that looked at the long-term effects of consuming Monsanto's genetically modified corn. The study was published in The Food & Chemical Toxicology Journal and was just presented at a news conference in London.

The study has been deemed "the most thorough research ever published into the health effects of GMO food crops and the herbicide Roundup on rats." News of the horrifying findings is spreading fast, with even the mainstream media in shock over the photos of rats with multiple grotesque tumors; tumors so large the rats even had difficulty breathing in some cases. GMOs may be the new thalidomide.

"Monsanto Roundup weedkiller and GMO maize implicated in 'shocking' new cancer study" wrote The Grocery, a popular UK publication.
It reported, "Scientists found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, developed mammary tumors and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females."

The Daily Mail reported, "Fresh row over GMO foods as French study claims rats fed the controversial crops suffered tumors."



The Study
The study, led by Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen, was the first ever study to examine the long-term (lifetime) effects of eating GMOs.
You may find yourself thinking it is absolutely astonishing that no such studies were ever conducted before GMO corn was approved for widespread use by the USDA and FDA, but such is the power of corporate lobbying and corporate greed.
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Dan74
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Re: March Against Monsanto

Post by Dan74 »

I am sorry, folks, I appreciate the good intentions and in many ways I share them, but I confess to being dismayed by the blurred lines between fact and fiction that seem to be acceptable here.

I mean if we truly are to battle the unscrupulous mega-corporations, do we make up our lies to counter their lies, or do we rely on integrity and fact? The Seralini study on the effect of GM maise has been rejected by six French national academies and repudiated by the journal that had originally accepted it. He based it on 10 rats of the species that are anyway prone to cancer. There were many other irregularities. This is common knowledge.

The Wakefield study has been exposed as fraud.

Of course there are folks who are emotionally invested in believing certain things who will not listen even if Seralini and Wakefield tell them personally that they don't believe their conclusions, but will rationalise it somehow as the global pharma ploy to brainwash them somehow. But for the open-minded folks, I suggest you listen to people like Raj Patel, whose Stuffed and Starved provides not only plenty of ammunition against Monsanto & Co but also points to the way forward.

http://www.amazon.com/Stuffed-Starved-H ... 1933633492

It's not laced with simple-minded emotive slogans or sensational fictions, but takes a bit of work to absorb and digest, but it's worth it.

That said, I am glad the marches are happening and will try to attend one with the family!
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