Marches against biotech giant Monsanto are being planned in over 250 cities across six continents this Saturday 25th May, to protest the corporate’s attempts to monopolise food systems, spread GMOs, and intimidate communities while lobbying politicians. A full list of events and demonstrations can be found here.
Genetically modified crops – organisms with artificially altered genes intended to change their characteristics in some way – are banned in several European countries, over concerns to human health and natural ecosystems. Genetically modified corn has been linked to cancer, infertility, and birth defects in rats, but remains largely unexplored – thanks in part to the efforts of biotech companies to keep this type of research at bay. GMOs can also have disastrous effects on natural ecosystems when they undermine local biodiversity and encourage large-scale monocultural farming.
But above all, Monsanto and GMOs undermine communities’ right to an independent, safe, and equitable food system by patenting seed and forcing farmers into corporate dependence. Seeds, for millennia, were common property: crossbred and exchanged for between growers. GMO seed is always patented, and hence becomes the sole property of a biotech such as Monsanto, threatening freedom and multiplicity in our food systems. And GMO crops can even contaminate organic crops, stripping organic farmers of their certificate and taking away their livelihood.
Throughout the last year, Young Friends of the Earth Europe has been demanding a ‘ReCAP’ to the European Union’s common agricultural policy, including strict legislation around GMO labeling, and banning their cultivation in Europe. We encourage everyone to join the marches against Monsanto this Saturday!
Young Friends of the Earth Europe is going to this march in Brussels. Find a march in a town near you and join in!