Monsanto, the agriculture giant, is also subject of much controversy. Their practices include creating GMO foods, that’s genetically modified for those who don’t get the acronym. They have taken the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from plants and spliced other genetic material into their basic structure to make foods resistant to blight, bugs or chemicals. Many people think they have also made some foods very unhealthy to humans in the process. Folks are organizing to get the governments in the US and around the world to force labeling these products so people can make the choice themselves whether they want to consume them.
There is a google document on line listing these protests. It has reached 10,000,000 in the past week. Their website, March Against Monsanto is high traffic. They are encouraging photos to be uploaded to their Facebook site. There is also a place for live streaming video from the protests.
Here is a list of locations the protests are happening in Washington State.
397 Aberdeen, Emily Anderson/Joshua Francy http://on.fb.me/177RthW
398 Bainbridge Island, Anne Heeney Weber http://on.fb.me/Z0f8xK
399 Bremerton, Taylor Niemy http://on.fb.me/14H5cgv
400 Colville, Amber Brunson http://on.fb.me/18dgZmx
401 Longview, Janice Barrera http://on.fb.me/15AVht7
402 Moses Lake, Anthony Brown http://on.fb.me/10IIDS3
mosaik3691@hushmail.com
403 Olympia, Bruce Wilkinson http://on.fb.me/10qvwUP 11 a.m.
Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol Campus
404 Seattle, Diane Walter/Cindy Black http://on.fb.me/14q7eRB
#MAMSeattle emilie@activistsfreepress.org 11 a.m. AND
Go Rally at Westlake Park; March to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at 12:30 p.m.
405 South Bend, Cassandra-Joanne Cooke Cooper http://on.fb.me/YM9GyC
406 Spokane, Jayce DuPlanti http://on.fb.me/10YeY8m
11 a.m. Go 20 W. 5th Ave
407 Bellingham, Stephen Trinkaus
http://on.fb.me/17YcXNH
Pierce Prairie Post 
More “peasants with torches” stuff. The evidence that genetically modified food plants pos a danger to humans is based entirely on unifrmed fear moingering by the scientificaty illiterate. What evidence is there that ANy geneetically modiefioed organism has ever harmed a human being anywhere in the world? Answer: Zero, zip, nada. What geentic modification of food plants and animals does is to genes into the DNA sequence to accomplish certain things. One major reason is to resist vulenerablity to insect, bacterial snd fungal infections. This is actually helpful to the envirnment as it reduces the need for large amounts of pesticides, fungicides and other sprays KNOWN to be harmful to humans and native wildlife.
Th GM process can also increase crop yields and improve storage time for foods., wich reduces food waste and enables more food to be grown on the same acerage. Therefore, less need for expensive and polluting fertilizers.
The irony is that every cow, pig, sheep and chicken you eat has been genetically modified by humans over a period of 3000 years or so. This is called “selective breeding.” Every grain of corn in your morning cornflakes and evey corncob you munch on at your Memorial Day picnic is descended from a wild grass in Mexico that was modified to produce the corn plants we know. today. The wheat and rice which feeds most of the world was genetically modified from wild strains as well. The potatoes in your French Fries came from a wild tuber from the Peruvian Andes. In fact, in Peru today, there are some 200 varieties of the potato plant, ech selectively bred to grow at a soecific altitude, moisture lecvel and soil conditions.
Go to your local garden shop and read the seed packages. Every time you see the word “hybrid” you are delaing with a genetically modified plant species. All the fruits and vegetables in the suopermarket are genetically modified to some degree or another. So unless you are subsisting on acorns, wild -caught rabbits and squrrels, you are eating genetically modified food every day of your life.
The only thing that laboratory genetic modification changes is the speed at which food crops and animals are changed into mor desiarble forms. Instead of taking 50 years of cross breeding, modern science can locate the gene that gives the plant or animal the desired characteristics. and insert it into the organism’s DNA in one step.
So when your local protestor hands youa leaflet and asks for money or a signature. Ask him/her the simple question. “Can you site a single study anywhere in the world that shows atht aspecific human being was harmed by a commerciallly genetically modified food product?’ If the asnwere is “yer” ask for the citation on the internet. You won’t find it.
As a trained scientist with a degree in Botany and a lifetime of dealing with control of hazardous material, I recognize the difference between science and superstition. The anti-GMO movement is entirely based on fear-mongering and appeals to superstition, like the peasants with torches attacking the castle. To those who say that GMO “might” be harmful, tell them. “Yes and a Boeing 747 MIGHT crash through the roof and kill us all in the next 20 minutes. So lets picket Boeing and demand that they stop producing airplanes!!!”