Thursday, May 21, 2015

There's a March Against Monsanto Saturday

Posted By on Thu, May 21, 2015 at 3:00 PM


Tucson and other Southern Arizona towns will be part of the worldwide marches against Monsanto happening Saturday. 

Aside from the usual demands for a global ban of the company's seed monopoly and toxic herbicides, some of the protests happening on U.S. soil hope to influence "no" votes for a bill in Congress— which has been nicknamed the DARK Act—that would prohibit states from creating and implementing their own GMO labeling laws, giving the U.S. Health and Human Services sole discretion on the issue. If it passes, it would overturn legislation in places like Connecticut, which became the first state to require GMO labeling. The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (critics call it the Deny Americans the Right to Know Act) is up for a vote next month. 

Anti-GMO advocates have tried passing labeling bills for years. Another was introduced this legislative session, but went nowhere. 

The Tucson march is hosted by GMO-Free Tucson and Avalon Organic Gardens & EcoVillage. If you're down, head down to the Pima County Public Library, 101 N. Stone Ave., at 4 p.m. There will be music and healthy eats from Food For Ascension Café and other food trucks (all GMO-less, of course).

If you're up for a road trip, the demonstration in Sierra Vista starts at 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Park, 3105 E. Fry Blvd.

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