Protesters successfully shut down California Monsanto office

A recent two-day protest in Northern California against  genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) led to the complete shutdown of a Monsanto  corporate office for an entire day, according to reports. On Friday, March 16,  2012, activists affiliated with the Global Days of Action to Shut Down  Monsanto began rallying in front of the Davis, Calif., office of Monsanto,  where they held up banners, gave speeches, and set up tents in front of the  Monsanto building on Fifth Street, which caused the biotech giant to shutter its  operations.

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“In the course of the two-day event, activists held up signs,  gave speeches to inform and inspire each other and solidify the movement,  drafted a resolution about Monsanto with many proposed solutions to be presented  to the California legislature, celebrated each other and went “freeway blogging”  – displaying a large hand made banner that said, “Shut Down Monsanto” on the  Pole Line Road overpass over I-80,” writes Mark Graham of Food Freedom.  “Thousands of drivers were shown this message.”

Sponsored by The  Anti-Monsanto Project, the Peace & Freedom Party, and various  chapters of the Occupy movement from around Northern California, the  weekend rally in Davis serves as a template for activists in other cities to  follow. All it took to shut down Monsanto, after all, was a few dozen people  standing in front of the building — imagine what hundreds, or even thousands,  of activists could together accomplish?

Awareness about GMOs and the fact  that they continue to remain unlabeled in the American food supply is becoming a  forefront issue in the public spotlight. And evidence of this is being fleshed  out in California,  Connecticut, Washington and nearly a dozen other states where mandatory GMO  labeling laws have been proposed or are currently making their way through the  legislative process.

The truth about the dangers and ineffectiveness of  GMOs, as well as the extreme toxicity of Roundup (glyphosate) and the other  chemical pesticides and herbicides used on GMOs, are also gaining national  attention. A recent study published in the Journal of Toxicology in  Vitro, for instance, revealed that even very low levels of Roundup destroy  testosterone and lead to male infertility (http://www.naturalnews.com/035135_Roundup_herbicide_testosterone.html).

In  2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) concluded  that GMOs “pose a serious health risk,” and called for an immediate moratorium  on their cultivation and use in food. Credible scientific studies continue to  show that consumption of GMOs is linked to organ damage, gastrointestinal  disorders, autoimmune illnesses, and infertility. GMOs also do not perform any  better than natural or hybrid crops.

Sources for this article  include:

http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/gmo-wars/content?oid=5513229

http://naturalsociety.com

http://foodfreedomgroup.com/2012/03/21/davis-shuts-monsanto-down/

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