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March Against Monsanto Worldwide Protest Two Days After Food Label Bill Fails Senate

By Elaine Radford
Published on: 09:49 PST, May 25, 2013

The worldwide March Against Monsanto took place on Saturday in 250 cities around the world. The protest was planned to draw attention to the controversy surrounding the use of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) — including wildly popular Round-up Ready soybeans, corn, and cotton which are developed to be resistant to the use of the herbicide which kills common weeds.

Some scientists and activists have linked the use of GMOs to collapsing populations of wild butterflies and honeybees.

The European Union has taken a particularly strong stand against GMOs, regulating them so strongly that some observers say that there is a de facto ban on the crops.

As a result, in 2012 Europe produced less than 400 square miles of GE (genetically engineered) crops, mostly Bt corn, which has been modified to include an insecticide.

However, GE crops are one of the most valuable agricultural products in the Americas, with the United States, Brazil, and Argentina leading exporters of GMO crops and animal feeds like corn and soybean.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had pushed for a new law to allow states to require the labeling of GMO foods. However, on Thursday, the US Senate overwhelmingly shot down the measure 71-27.

Here are just a few of the images from around the world.

From Anonymous:

In New York:

In Washington D.C.:

Paris, France:

Here is video from Tokyo, Japan:

And another one from Sydney, Australia:

We don’t yet have a final count on the number of people who participated, but the March Against Monsanto Facebook page predicted 400 marches in 50 countries with over 200,000 people.

[Durban, South Africa of March Against Monsanto protest by Tracy Hinds and Revolution News via Facebook]

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