14 DAY TRIAL // This past Saturday, thousands of people from 436 cities across the world took part in a global protest against genetically modified foods and the people responsible for putting them on our tables.
Seed giant Monsanto was the company these people rallied against, hence the demonstration's being dubbed “March Against Monsanto.”
While taking part in this protest most people carried banners with the following messages written on them: “Real Food 4 Real People,” “Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know.”
For those unaware, GMOs are produced by toying with the genetic make-up of various plant seeds.
The goal is to roll out crops that can be sprayed with insecticides and herbicides without their being seriously affected by such practices.
What's more, genetically modified seeds are argued to improve crop yields and even allow farmers to grow crops whose nutritional value is superior to that of run-the-mill agricultural plants.
Needless to say, there are some who believe that, as good as GMOs might sound on paper, growing them and entering them into the global food supply is by no means a good idea.
“They are poisoning our children, poisoning our planet. If we don't act, who's going to?” the protesters reportedly commented on their decision to rally and take a stand against seed giant Monsanto.
“The genetic engineering process creates massive collateral damage, causing mutations in hundreds or thousands of locations throughout the plant's DNA. Natural genes can be deleted or permanently turned on or off, and hundreds may change their behavior.”
“Even the inserted gene can be damaged or rearranged, and may create proteins that can trigger allergies or promote disease,” Jeffrey Smith of the Institute for Responsible Technology stated.
Presently, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States does not make it mandatory for companies marketing GMOs to label them accordingly.
What these protesters want is that such legislation be passed, and that people be at least given the option to decide whether or not they wish to buy products whose genetic make-up has been tampered with by scientists.
As RT points out, Monsanto is not the only company currently making a profit by promoting both GMOs and the use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture.
However, it is one of the top players in this field, this being the reason why it was targeted by the people who took part in this past weekend's protest.