General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMore pics from Saturday's global 'March Against Monsanto'
from the March Against Monsanto Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MarchAgainstMonstanto/photos_stream
Durban
Chicago
Toronto
San Diego
Lancaster, CA
Amsterdam
Gato Moteado
(9,876 posts)gato was there:
snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)G_j
(40,367 posts)though, "The page you requested was not found."
lunatica
(53,410 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)NEW PALTZ About 350 people took to the streets Saturday afternoon in New Paltz, marching downtown and briefly blocking traffic. They were the Hudson Valley contingent of March Against Monsanto, fighting for genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling of so-called artificially engineered "frankenfood."
Organizers said the event totaled two million participants worldwide, rallying in 52 countries and 436 cities.
At least one New Paltz cop was perplexed, having never heard of genetically modified organisms, or the controversy surrounding their gradual introduction into the food supply. Motorists caught in the sudden protest gridlock; however, cheered the activists on, honking their horns in support.
Hundreds rallied in New Paltz against GMOs (Photo: Roberto LoBianco)
"People are rising up, they're waking up, they realize that these genetically modified foods are bad for our health, they're killing out environment," said Barbara Upton, one of the local organizers. "We want them labeled to begin with in New York State, and we're pushing for that," she said.
"But eventually we want them banned, because they really have no place in our lives, they're creating havoc and we have to get rid of them," Upton said.
"We won't stand for our food supply to be contaminated by Monsanto and their nasty GMO crops," agreed co-organizer Beth Dulay.
Monsanto's GMO foods contain genetic modifications, such as built-in pesticides, which have been blamed for colony collapse disorder of worldwide honey bee populations. Frankenfoods such as GMO corn currently comprise 80 percent of the breakfast cereal market.
GMO pollen has been proven to cross-pollinate non-GMO crops. Monsanto's response to the genetic bleeding of their products has been taking other farmers to court for "patent infringement."
A revolving door between Monsanto's corporate structure and the US Food and Drug Administration has resulted in lax to non-existent regulation of these experimental life forms in the worldwide food supply, opponents say. Studies have shown GMO corn makes insect stomachs explode, they maintain.
Labeling of GMOs is forbidden in the United States, but mandatory in China. GMOs are banned in Russia and several other countries, including France, and most recently Peru and Argentina.
Previously, Monsanto produced deadly polychlorinated biphenals (PCBs), which were found to be carcinogenic and removed from the market. Another discontinued chemical from Monsanto was Bovine Growth Hormone (r-BGH), which was pervasive in the milk supply but forced out of existence due to product labeling.
Monsanto is the subject of several muckraking documentaries, including "The World According to Monsanto."
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2013/May/26/GMO_protest-26May13.htm
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)Corn, soy, cotton are the top three GMO crops.
70% of the processed foods in grocery stores contain GMO ingredients. And there is no labeling.
--Thanks for the inspiring pix.
mountain grammy
(26,644 posts)Our corporate masters are getting nervous.
Kath1
(4,309 posts)I especially loved the San Diego photo. Thanks. Peace.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Iwillnevergiveup
(9,298 posts)And recommended, of course!
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Or I would have been at Balboa park.
Hubby got something cute and cuddly and virusy...acchoooo.... Except for three hours listening to scanner, I slept.
Lionel Mandrake
(4,076 posts)Is Monsanto evil? I know an evolutionary biologist who thinks so, although he doesn't object to "frankenfood" in general.
Are all so-called GMO's (including "frankenfood" evil? I don't think so. The introduction of the pesticide Roundup (aka glyphosate) and "Roundup-ready" crops is arguably a disaster, when you consider that some weeds have developed resistance to the pesticide. But what's wrong with corn that has been genetically modified to kill the corn borer?
Besides, "genetically modified" is a misnomer. Traditional methods of breeding also produce genetic modifications, although they do so slowly and depend on random mutations to provide the necessary genetic variability. Molecular genetics is merely an alternate method to accomplish the same goals. What difference does it make which method was used, say, to produce a crop that resists a common pest?
As far as labeling is concerned: this is a democracy. If the majority wants "frankenfood" labeled as such, then it should be labeled. Personally, I would ignore such labels.
Gore1FL
(21,151 posts)I am not convinced GMO is inherently bad. I am less concerned about GMO corn and more concerned that corn overwhelms our diet. The Monsanto's abuses trying to gain a stranglehold in that area tends to conflate these and other issues unnecessarily. Each deserve their own conversation.
arikara
(5,562 posts)breeding for characteristics and taking a gene out of say... a fish... and splicing it into a tomato. One is a natural process, the other is definitely not. Nor is the monsanto type gene splicing done for benevolent reasons like increasing nutritional value, its done so that the plants can withstand more pesticide that they sell, so that they can sell more of it.
The so-called food that monsanto develops is never properly tested to see if it does indeed harm people, animals or the environment.
Lionel Mandrake
(4,076 posts)First of all, plant and animal breeding are not natural processes. They are what Darwin called artificial selection, as opposed to natural selection.
Secondly, gene transfer between different species happens in nature, not just in the laboratory. Viruses do it all the time, and DNA fragments in soil and other environments are often taken up by organisms other than those that produced the fragments.
This being said, it is true that the development of genetic engineering in the 70s and 80s has led to many new crops that would probably never have been produced the old-fashioned way. Some of these have had unexpected side-effects, but others appear to be entirely beneficial.