Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Millions Against Monsanto: How You Can Make A Difference

Monsanto is the most noxious corporation on the earth. I've been saying this for a while. Now the Organic Consumers Association has put together a brilliant, well-organized campaign to do something about it: Millions Against Monsanto.

This isn't an issue of Democrat vs. Republican, or liberal vs. conservative, or anything like that. It's human vs. corporation. Or even, the survival of our species vs. the hubris and greed of one generation.

For some background oh Monsanto, check out the Millions Against Monsanto page. I can also recommend a few documentaries: Food, Inc., The World According to Monsanto, and The Future of Food. And lots of books. And the web page of a brave man, Percy Schmeiser.

Millions Against Monsanto is starting by lobbying to require labeling of genetically-modified food. Monsanto has fought labeling so successfully that not only is labeling not required, but it is in fact against federal law for local jurisdictions to pass laws requiring labeling!

If GM foods are safe, as Monsanto claims, then why oppose labeling?

And if the FDA is indeed a government watchdog working in the interests of the people, then why are they restricting our access to information?

You may be reading this and wondering if it affects you, because you don't know whether or not you consume genetically modified foods. That's exactly the point. The truth is that if you ever eat corn, sugar, soy, canola, potatoes, or tomatoes, it does affect you, because in the US, these may be genetically modified. And if nothing changes, the list will soon expand to include wheat, alfalfa, and salmon (!). No labeling required in the US.

To put this in perspective, at least 15 countries do require labeling, including Russia. Is Russia really ahead of the US on consumer safety? In this case, yes.

Believe it or not, this is just the start of the problems with Monsanto. Read here about PCBs, Agent Orange, intimidating small farmers, taking ownership of public water resources, and so on.

I urge everyone to join the campaign, join the Facebook page, and join your local chapter. The lines of battle have been drawn, and it's time for us to defend ourselves against Monsanto's willful recklessness.

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.)

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm participating in the Millions Against Monsanto rally coming to Chicago! Thanks for bringing awareness to this movement for change.

Rachel said...

I am participating, too!!!! I'm posting a video on my page every day between now and October 16th (World Food Day). I'm also posting it everywhere else I can find to raise awareness (Food Network, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, blogs, organic info pages, agriculture pages, sustainability awareness walls, and more). So far over 1,000 people have watched the video via my bit.ly link. If you're reading this, please repost this link on your website, blog, or Facebook wall. bit.ly/f7suNk

Please look into Monsanto and their activities and spread the word. Vote with your voice and your dollar!

Thanks Alex for another great post and for all your hard work!

Alex Lewin said...

M.E., Glad you're on board too!

Alex Lewin said...

Rachel--thanks for all YOUR hard work. I am going to circulate your link. 1000 views out of 20,000--you are 5% of all views for that video!

121 million people have watched the stupid "Friday" video. Imagine if even a fraction of them watched this one!

Natasha said...

i just clicked on Percy Schmeiser's website link and unsurprisingly, the web page could not be found. for anyone who wants to view his page, go to google and type in Percy Schmeiser and click on the cached link under his page and you will be able to view the website. his website is the first result that comes up.

Alex Lewin said...

I have no idea what happened to his site. It was up when I made the original post.

I'll definitely fix the link if it needs fixing. Or if Monsanto operatives hacked his web server, that will give me something more to blog about...