On May 25, approximately two million people in over 50 different countries took a stand to educate the public and raise awareness about food. Specifically, food grown by Monsanto that has been genetically modified.
The movement to “March Against Monsanto” began in February of 2012 with a small Facebook page. It quickly steamed rolled into a grass-roots campaign. Part of the reason for the success of the campaign was the anger from citizens over recent legislation that has been passed. It has been dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act” and it would allow biotech corporations to plant genetically engineered crops while they were still under review from the USDA for potential harms. The legislation ticked people off and got them thinking about their food and what is in it.
People want to know more about their food. Another reason the “March Against Monsanto” was so successful was the loss of Prop 37 in California. Prop 37 called for the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food. It failed to pass, but gave rise to bills for labeling GMO or GE foods in at least 20 other states.
Several celebrities including Bill Mahr, Danny Devito and Travis Stork (The Doctors, television series) have shown support for labeling genetically engineered foods. In a public service announcement, the stars indicate that GMO foods are in our daily diets and that no one knows what they could do to our bodies.
Stork says in the PSA, “So what does this mean when you are eating dinner at night? Whether you believe it or not, you are eating genetically engineered food. What does it do to the body? What does it do to the cells in your body? What does it do to your DNA? What does it do? Well, we don’t really know.”
The first “March Against Monsanto” was a huge success to the grass-roots activists. And the second and third marches are expected to be just as successful. With 93% of Americans supporting the labeling of GMO products success shouldn’t be surprising. The next march is scheduled to take place on July 4 and is called the “Moms Across America March” where activists will march in local Independence Day parades to show support for GMO labeling.
Linda St.Cyr is a writer, blogger, activist, and short story author. She writes about news, sustainability, green energy, food, celebrities and much more. Often she is busy being vocal about feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and shedding a light on human rights violations all over the world.
Humberto Arenas
In Chile we are also fighting against GMOs and we will try to compromise future candidates for the Presidency of the country against GMO´s.
Any tips will be welcomed.
Cheers !
strive4impact
This is a great idea. What’s working now to get candidates who are anti-GMO into power? Have you found things that are working?