TODAY, THIRD ANNUAL MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO WORLDWIDE in 40 Countries, 400 Cities, May 23, 2015
Last edited Sun May 24, 2015, 11:42 AM - Edit history (1)
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"THOUSANDS WORLDWIDE MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO AND GM CROPS"
Yahoo News
Saturday, May 23, 2015
PARIS (AFP)- Thousands of people hit the streets in cities across the world Saturday, May 23 to protest against the American biotechnology giant Monsanto and its genetically modified crops and pesticides.
The Third Annual March Against Monsanto-- begun by the Occupy Movement-- was held in upwards of 400 cities in more than 40 countries from the Americas to Africa and Asia.
About 2,500 people staged anti-Monsanto protests in the Swiss cities of Basel and Morges, where the company has its Headquarters for Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Up to 3,000 protesters rallied by environmental groups including Greenpeace and anti-capitalist Stop TAFTA, gathered in Paris, with Monsanto's market-leading herbicide Roundup the main target of protesters' anger.
The controversial product's main ingredient was recently classified as "probably carcinogenic to humans" by the World Health Organization.
"Looking for mass suicide? Go for Roundup," read one placard at another French protest in the western city of Rennes.
In Burkina Faso, around 500 people marched in the capital Ouagadougou against the US giant, which introduced GM cotton into the west African country in 2003.
Demonstrators demanded a 10 year moratorium in the planting of Monsanto seeds so "independent research can be conducted" into the effects of the technology.
Up to 1,000 anti-Monsanto activists also gathered in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg as the sun was setting for a minute's silence "in homage to the existing and future victims poisoned by pesticides" according to organisers.
There were similar scenes across Germany, France, Holland, the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia and other countries and in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Rio de Janiero, Santiago Chile, Winnipeg Canada, Sydney, London, Berlin, Paris, Bordeaux and Toulouse.
Up to 500 protesters, including families with small children, took part in a colourful and good-natured rally under the sun in Los Angeles.
"I'm not a science experiment" read the sign of a young girl in a pushcar, while demonstrators chanted "Hell no GMO!"
"Monsanto is doing terrible things and that's why we're here," said protestor Carole Walker.
Megan Cliburn added: "We should be able to know what's in our food when we are eating; what we are putting in our body."
Another 250 people danced and sang in a noisy demonstration in Rio, accusing Monsanto of "bioterrorism".
About 1,000 people in Chile's capital Santiago demanded withdrawal of Monsanto from the country and the end of production of genetically modified foods.
"We do not want Monsanto on our plates," said Ivan Santandreu, president of the movement Chile sin Transgenicos.
Monsanto did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Article, Photos and Video:
http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-worldwide-march-against-monsanto-gm-crops-200532901.html
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UPDATE, See #4. Post. The Guardian, May 22, 2015, "EU Dropped Pesticide Laws Due to US Pressure over TTIP, Documents Reveal: US Trade Officials Pushed EU to Shelve Action on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Linked to Cancer and Male Infertility to Facilitate TTIP Free Trade Deal".
Read More:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/22/eu-dropped-pesticide-laws-due-to-us-pressure-over-ttip-documents-reveal
= new reply since forum marked as read
PHOTO: Chief EU negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero (R) and Chief US negotiator Dan Mullaney (L) hold a press conference in Washington, D.C. after a new round of talks on creating a Transatlantic Free Trade Zone, May 19, 2015.
-TTIP, the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is being negotiated between the EU and the US. The TTIP is the companion agreement to the TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Both massive, global free trade agreements have been criticized and protested in the EU, the US and worldwide as a move to increase corporate power and profits for transnationals over people, national governments and the environment.-
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"EU DROPPED PESTICIDE LAWS DUE TO US PRESSURE OVER TTIP, DOCUMENTS REVEAL"
US Trade Officials Pushed EU to Shelve Action on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Linked to Cancer and Male Infertility to Facilitate TTIP Free Trade Deal
The Guardian
Friday, May 22, 2015
By Arthur Neslen, Brussels
EU moves to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility were shelved following pressure from US trade officials over the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal, newly released documents show.
Draft EU criteria could have banned 31 pesticides containing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). But these were dumped amid fears of a trade backlash stoked by an aggressive US Lobby push, access to information documents obtained by "Pesticides Action Network (PAN) Europe" show.
On June 26 2013, a high level delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) visited EU trade officials to insist that the bloc drop its planned criteria for identifying EDCs in favour of a new impact study.
Minutes of the meeting show commission officials pleading that "although they want the TTIP to be successful, they would not like to be seen as lowering EU standards."
The TTIP is a trade deal being agreed to by the US and EU to remove barriers to commerce and promote free trade.
READ MORE:
The Guardian Article, May 22, 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/22/eu-dropped-pesticide-laws-due-to-us-pressure-over-ttip-documents-reveal
Wiki, TTIP, Trans Atlantic Trade Investment Partnership free trade deal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_Trade_and_Investment_Partnership
weed killer product ROUNDUP are being used in Europe. Roundup's toxic ingredient GLYPHOSATE, used in Monsanto's GMO plant crop seeds, is being detected in the urine and breast milk of Europeans even though they do not eat Genetically Modified Foods. Serious concerns about the human health effects of these agro chemicals are stressed by the Monsanto protesters in Berlin and others interviewed in the Video above.
ROUNDUP made by Monsanto the agrochemical giant is the No. 1 globally used herbicide and weed killer.
ATRAZINE, made by the Swiss based agrochemical company Syngenta, is the No. 1 plant herbicide and weed killer used in the US, on agricultural crops, lawns and golf courses. Atrazine is banned in Europe since 2004 over issues with ground water contamination, although another product is being used instead and its safety is unclear.
There are many health concerns about human and wildlife from the use of Atrazine and Roundup as reported in the attached articles. ATRAZINE is another endocrine (hormone) disruptor indicated in the growing number of fish and frogs that are intersex--males that carry eggs, and females with high testosterone levels in the US.
-USA Today, March 20, 2015, by Tracy Loew, "Roundup a 'Probable Carcinogen' WHO Report Says".
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/20/roundup-probable-carcinogen-report-says/25115481/
-The Washington Post, Aug. 25, 2009, by Kari Lydersen, "Higher Levels of Herbicide (Atrazine) Found in Drinking Water May Pose Health Risk."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/24/AR2009082403051.html
-Wiki, Atrazine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrazine
PHOTO: A Smallmouth Bass with a Rare, Cancerous Tumor Caught in 2013 in the Susquehanna River in PA.
-The Washington Post, May 5, 2015, by Abby Ohlheiser, "Why a Smallmouth Bass with a Rare, Cancerous Tumor has PA Officials Worried".
Hydraulic fracking for shale gas using unregulated chemicals began around 2005 in the area where the bass fish was caught in PA. At the same time, 2005 Pennsylvania officials started noticing sores and lesions on local bass in the Susquehanna, the longest river on the east coast that rises and flows through NY, PA and MD into the Chesapeake Bay.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/05/05/a-susquehanna-river-angler-caught-a-smallmouth-bass-with-a-rare-cancerous-tumor/
Here's hoping!
