Luke Rudkowski of "WeAreChange" talks to people who joined in on the March Against Monsanto in NYC about the problems of Monsanto and GMOs.
Genetically modified plants are grown from seeds that are engineered to resist insecticides and herbicides, add nutritional benefits or otherwise improve crop yields and increase the global food supply.
Most corn, soybean and cotton crops grown in the United States today have been genetically modified. But critics say genetically modified organisms can lead to serious health conditions and harm the environment. The use of GMOs has been a growing issue of contention in recent years, with health advocates pushing for mandatory labeling of genetically modified products even though the federal government and many scientists say the technology is safe.
And who wants the makers of Agent Orange "modifying" the food that they eat?
Organized by the 'March Against Monsanto' movement, an estimated two million have taken part in the massive event on Saturday spanning six continents, 52 nations, and at least 48 US states.
“It was empowering and inspiring to see so many people, from different walks of life, put aside their differences and come together today,” said Tami Canal, founder and organizer of the global event.
“We will continue until Monsanto complies with consumer demand. They are poisoning our children, poisoning our planet,” she said. “If we don't act, who's going to?”
As we have learned from Occupy Wall Street events in the past, it's likely that some government entity was present to monitor the Monsanto protests. And government agents wouldn't be the only outsiders keeping a watchful eye.
From documents obtained by Jeremy Scahill in 2010:
"Over the past several years, entities closely linked to the private security firm Blackwater have provided intelligence, training and security services to US and foreign governments as well as several multinational corporations, including Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt Disney Company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and banking giants Deutsche Bank and Barclays, according to documents obtained by The Nation. Blackwater's work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies owned by Blackwater's owner and founder, Erik Prince: Total Intelligence Solutions and the Terrorism Research Center (TRC). Prince is listed as the chairman of both companies in internal company documents, which show how the web of companies functions as a highly coordinated operation. Officials from Total Intelligence, TRC and Blackwater (which now calls itself Xe Services) did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this article."
"One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater, through Total Intelligence, sought to become the "intel arm" of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm."
