MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO TO SHOUT “HELL NO TO GMOS” FOR SECOND YEAR

 In 2013, Tami Monroe Canal founded March Against Monsanto because she believed it would protect her daughters’ health. Monsanto is an agricultural company that produces seed brands and herbicides (most famously, Roundup), some of which have been scientifically proven to cause health risks, such as birth defects, cancer, organ damage and auto-immune conditions. Monsanto is also one of the world’s leading producers of genetically modified organisms (better known as GMOs).

GMOs have been partially banned in several countries and foods containing GMO ingredients are currently labeled in 64 countries. Monsanto has spent millions in lobbying efforts opposing such laws in the United States. (Anti-labeling groups spent $22 million in an attempt to beat down labeling legislation in the state of Washington alone). The company has failed to make nice with independent farmers; early this year it won a lawsuit that allows the agri-giant to sue farmers whose fields are found to contain patent-protected Monsanto biotechnology, even if the farmers did not knowingly use such matter.

Despite the insistence from Monsanto that their company helps, not hurts, farmers, and the lack of credible scientific evidence proving that GMOs harm health and environment, Canal’s anti-Monsanto message is increasingly popular, evidenced by the 54 GMO labeling bills currently being discussed in 26 states, including Vermont’s signing such a bill into state law in early May.

March Against Monsanto (MAM) will gather on May 24 across “six continents, in 52 countries, with events in over 400 cities.” Participants demand Monsanto halt GMO use and the production of pesticides they believe are hazardous to human health and the environment, and support GMO labeling legislation as well. Locally, the march is organized by Cynthia Rose Kurkowski.

From the Farmers’ Perspective

OSGATA (Organic Seed Growers Association) v. Monsanto was filed by farmers and farm organizations in March 2011 to “invalidate Monsanto’s patents and protect organic and non-GMO family farmers from unwanted genetic contamination of their crops.” Monsanto sees it differently though, according to its website: “We understand the importance of planting and harvesting and always seek to minimize interfering with farmers’ normal activities.” However, unwanted seeds can blow into farmers’ crops, cross-pollinating with traditional crops, which ruins organic farms.

Since the GMO seeds are patented, this gives Monsanto the power to enforce their legal patents. Supporters of OSGATA argue that Monsanto harms independent farmers’ livelihoods worldwide with ruthless patent infringement legislation and its giant status as a near-monopoly means some crops, like corn and soybeans, are virtually impossible to guarantee as organic and GMO-free.

Agent Orange

Monsanto was the largest producer of agent orange during the Vietnam War and “half of agent orange’s chemical compound (2,4-D) and pesticides like Roundup are chemicals being sprayed on GMO crops,” allege The Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance and March Against Monsanto. The groups insinuate that this could negatively impact health, with CVVHA pointing to its members’ own myriad defects and chronic diseases; however, the EPA has said 2,4-D and Roundup are safe for farming.

Halting Influence on Government

Many MAM marchers are also concerned about Monsanto’s influence in government circles. There’s the ability to invest millions in lobbying efforts (as in Washington State) for one, but there’s also a more insidious dynamic at play, according to anti-GMO activists. In 1998, writing for progressive British journal The Ecologist, Jennifer Ferrera noted that several former Monsanto employees held key positions in the U.S.’ Food and Drug Administration. To the activists this creates a troubling conflict of interest in Monsanto and other biotech giants’ favor. Monsanto brushes this off as a logical progression for industry specialists.

MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO ON MAY 24th in a city near you!

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Vietnam War Was Monsanto’s First Herbicidal Operation

The Vietnam War was the Monsanto Company’s first herbicidal operation. Monsanto and Dow Chemical were the two companies that manufactured Agent Orange, the deadly dioxin based herbicide.  The March Against Monsanto (MAM) is scheduled to host global protests at more than 100 sites on May 24. MAM is very vocal about moving beyond a genetically modified organism (GMO ) labeling centered discourse when it comes to exposing Monsanto’s negative impact on the world.

The protest network sponsors projects like Agent Orange Awareness (AOA). Founder of the AOA Kelly L. Derricks comments, “If we fail to realize that March Against Monsanto is not about GMOs alone, then we have already lost the battle.”

Organizers want to inform the public that Monsanto’s devastation stretches across the board. The media often simplifies protesters’ demands against Monsanto’s domination of food resources by not covering Monsanto’s history as a major manufacturer of Agent Orange.

Even though Monsanto was not the only Agent Orange producer, MAM confirms that Monsanto manufactured the chemical at 1,000 times its original potency making them the most deadly contributor to the herbicidal weapons used in the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was used in Operation Ranch Hand which began Monsanto’s role in destroying the global environment and harming the health of millions.

The Organic Consumers Association gives the history of how the toxic chemical was used in the Vietnam War. Approximately 72 million liters of herbicides, a majority Agent Orange, were sprayed by the United States military from 1962 to 1970. More than a million Vietnamese citizens and over 100,000 allied troops came into contact with the toxin. Since then, Monsanto has falsified several studies about the toxic effects of Agent Orange.

Studies that show Agent Orange’s toxic effects exist, but this research has done little to implicate Monsanto’s role in poisoning humans. Studies in the 1970s found that Agent Orange exposure caused, “a very significant, multi-system illness affecting all parts of the nervous system, and causing fatigue and muscle aches.” Groups like AOA and MAM are working to draw attention to the countless studies and life experiences that prove the damaging effects of Agent Orange.

Monsanto  was neither the first nor the only company to create Agent Orange used in the herbicidal operation in the Vietnam War. Dow Chemical also made large quantities of  dioxin, the main ingredient in Agent Orange. Agent Orange victims have spoken out about the dangers of allowing Monsanto and Dow Chemical to continue patenting agricultural products.

Dow AgroSciences will follow Monsanto and release their own version of herbicide resistant GMO corn and soybean seeds in 2015. The Dow herbicide called, Enlist Duo, contains traces of Agent Orange’s dioxin in a mixture of  2,4-D and glyphosate. Many demand that the EPA should prevent Enlist products from being sold in the market because of decades of scientific research that link dioxin toxicity to severe health issues.

Concerns about Monsanto’s role in facilitating the deregulation of the agricultural industry stem from Monsanto’s influence in the federal government. The Food and Drug Administration as well as the Environmental Protection Agency have employed former Monsanto attorneys in their organizations.

On May 24, the world will witness thousands of people protesting the use of toxic chemicals in agriculture. Monsanto’s Agent Orange operation in the Vietnam War was the first insight into the biotech corporation’s future in herbicidal warfare. The protests will expose this connection. Media coverage of last year’s protests was very slim. However, this year is promising to gain greater attention as long as more people become concerned about where their food comes from.

VIDEOS HERE

(Dom's Multiple Myeloma was caused by his exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam)

Why Monsanto is Pilloried as Most Evil Corporation in the World

US agriculture company Monsanto has been accused of contaminating around 90% of the world's food production with chemicals and uncertified GMO (genetically modified organisms) and has inspired a fresh batch of protests set to take place around the world in May.

Dubbed the "most evil corporation in the world" in 2011, Monsanto has inpsired protests staged in more than 50 countries, all aimed at boycotting Monsanto and raising awareness regarding the company's practices and the altered nature of its products.

According to March Against Monsanto's official webpage, the anti-Monsanto demonstrators have been calling for the permanent boycott of GMOs and "other harmful agro-chemicals".

Who is Monsanto? 

Founded as a chemical company in 1901, Monsanto mainly produced saccharine: a synthetic compound used instead of sugar in food and drinks.

In 1920 Monsanto began manufacturing synthetic chemicals, including pesticides, and also engaged in the production of "Agent Orange", or Herbicide Orange, a chemical used by the US army during the Vietnam War.

The US army spread the chemical on crops in an attempt to deforest the Vietnam jungle to help reveal enemy targets.

Despite US government claims that the chemical was harmless, Agent Orange is believed to have caused cancer in hundreds of people, while several babies were (and still are) born with severe malformations.

Health problems related to the chemical are still evident on a large scale in Vietnam, where the devastating consequences of Agent Orange are passed from a generation to the other.

In 1984 Monsanto agreed to pay $180m (£107m) to US veterans whose health had been permanently damaged.

In 1930s, Monsanto started producing Polychlorinated biphenyls chemicals (PBCs), which were used in electrical equipment. These chemicals were banned in 1979, labelled as dangerous as they caused severe health problems.

Monsanto PBC remains were found in the soil of a town called Times Beach, in Missouri, and the company was blamed for chemical waste mismanagement as a result.

The whole town had to be relocated in 1983 and, at that point, environment protection agencies listed Monsanto as one of the most dangerous company in the US.

Monsanto denied being responsible for the disaster.

The company was re-launched in 2001 with a new focus: agriculture.

Accused of developing "Frankenstein foods" , the company withdrew eight of its nine pending applications with the European Commission, which aimed at securing approval for its products in Europe.

Monsanto's only remaining application sought the renewal of approval for its MON810 corn, which had previously been endorsed at EU level. The product was banned in France in 2012, while Italy asked the EU to suspend its approval in April 2013.

March Against Monsanto website has organised new protests for May 2014.

The protests will be held in Africa, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, 34 countries in Europe, 49 countries in the US and seven in South America.

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