Environmental for Food Justice

Moderator’s Note: We are three days away from the global 2014 March Against Monsanto on May 24. Events and protests are planned in hundreds of cities across more than fifty countries. It will be another important day for political organizing, testimonials, educational workshops and classes, films, lectures, and much more. There will certainly be plenty of direct action protests. This year we have much to celebrate in the struggle for food democracy. There are multiple clear signs that the no-GMO movement is finally turning the tide against Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, Dow Agriscience, and the rest of so-called Gene Giants. These include the successful passage of the Vermont labeling law last month; this week’s overwhelming voter support for the Jackson County, Oregon ban on transgenic crops; the ban on transgenic corn in Mexico in effect since October 2013 and upheld two months ago; another Mexican ruling against Monsanto, this one involving the planting of transgenic soybean...

Image credit: kboo-fm Rural farm county home to major Monsanto & Syngenta GMO seed operations ORDINANCE BASED ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS NOT FOOD SAFETY Devon G. Peña | Las Colonias de San Pablo, CO | May 20, 2014 A rural farming county in Oregon has just voted to ban certain GMO plants from cultivation. With 94 percent of the vote in, the Jackson County voters produced a solid victory margin of 66 to 34 percent. While Vermont recently became the first state to require GMO labeling of retail consumer foodstuffs, this is the first vote involving a ban on the cultivation of certain genetically engineered or transgenic crops. The successful outcome occurred despite the fact that opponents including Monsanto, Syngenta, and other industrial growers spent more than $455,000 to defeat the citizens’ ordinance initiative. It seems to be getting harder for the Gene Giants to buy elections. In the case of Jackson County, the ban specifically targets large GMO seed production operations by Monsa...