Organisers celebrate huge global turnout and say they will continue until Monsanto and other GM manufacturers listen…Details here.
Below is my response to a Facebook friend who thought "GM" stood for "General Motors."
In this context, GM stands for "Genetically-Modified." That's when multinational corporations including Monsanto manipulate their seed by inserting a gene from another species (in this case, a plant bacteria). This makes the resulting crop resistant to herbicides like Monsanto's flagship product "Roundup," which kills the weeds but spares the crop itself. There are several problems with this, however. Notwithstanding Monsanto's long-standing assurances that Roundup is safe, a mounting body of scientific research has and is showing otherwise. It is actually a major factor in an important disease of cereal crops - such as fusarium - when those crops are planted in subsequent years to ones where Roundup was applied. Research shows Roundup may be a factor in the decline of amphibians, worldwide. Earlier Canadian research indicates Roundup (or its active ingredient) lead to miscarriages in farm women who've been exposed to it. A study done less than a year ago in the UK confirms what regulators had known much earlier - that it causes birth defects in lab animals. If you wanted to pursue this further, you could read my in-depth article on the topic, called "Field of Nightmares - Ottawa continues to embrace the widespread use of Roundup on Canadian farms by letting corporate seduction trump scientific evidence." http://www.pathslesstravelled.com/2012/09/field-of-nightmares.html It was published in the Canadian peer-reviewed journal, Alternatives last year. Happy reading, Lindy! Take care!