Costa Rica: "We Don't Want Monsanto!"
Costa Rica: "We Don't Want Monsanto!"
By Brian Stoffel | March 12, 2013 |
Over the past weekend, in the sleepy rural village of Atenas, Costa Rica, there was a weekend-long celebration in the town square.
But instead of the normal summer festivals, or an observance of the Lenten season for this predominantly Catholic nation, citizens were gathering for a different reason: Their canton (akin to a county in the United States) had just voted against the use of genetically modified seeds.
A little background
The recent backlash against GMOs and the company that predominantly sells them, Monsanto (NYSE: MON ) , began in late 2012, when a subsidiary of the company requested permission to plant about 5 acres of corn with genetically modified seeds produced by Monsanto.
The request led to a rash of demonstrations across the country, but on Jan. 22, the Costa Rican Ministry of Science and Technology granted the request.
This isn't the first time such a request has been granted, as the country has already allowed about 1,100 acres of genetically modified cotton, soybeans, bananas, and pineapples to grow within its borders.
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