The Occupy Movement’s Not Dead, Just ‘Modified’ to Take On Monsanto
Zuccotti Park may have cleared out, but the fed-up have not left their gripes for the street-sweepers. Criticized for being a ‘leaderless’ movement short on demands, the aftermath of City Halls and Capitol buildings converted into homes for the homeless, the unemployed and the “we’re mad as hell and not going to take it anymore” Occupiers last fall has paved the way for a pronounced clarity and specificity that eluded the movement just months ago. One such target of the post-Occupy Occupation: Multinational seed and chemical company, Monsanto.
The Occupy Monsanto movement has been growing steadily over the last several months as campaigns, ballot initiatives and petitions targeting the labeling of genetically modified foods are garnering huge support across the nation, sparking further controversy over the contentious issue. And last Friday delivered another strong anti-GMO message to Monsanto with protests slated to happen across the world, including Spain, Australia and Canada, and throughout the U.S. including Washington D.C. and Davis, California.
Referring to Congress as “Genetically Modified” protestors arrived at Capitol Hill in bio-hazmat suits to demonstrate the corruption resulting from biotech industry lobbying dollars. And more than 100 protestors blocked entrance to the Monsanto offices in Davis, California with tents, signs and bodies, despite the wet weather.
In a statement released by Occupy Monsanto, a representative for the group claimed the protests to be necessary because, “In the name of Wall Street profits, chemical corporations such as Monsanto genetically engineer crops to withstand high doses of their toxic weed killers that contaminate our food and water, and have not been proven safe. We deserve to know what we are eating.”
And the explosive anti-GMO brisance is expected to hit even harder on September 17th—the Occupy Monsanto day being pegged as International Action Against Genetic Biohazards—with hundreds of protests anticipated around the globe at various Monsanto facilities.
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Image: lilyrhoads
