Dozens protest in Abilene against Monsanto and genetically modified seeds

Eric J. Shelton/Reporter-News
Demonstrators walk down North 1st street in protest of the Monsanto Company on Saturday, May 25, 2013. The purpose of the protest is to bring attention to the dangers posed by genetically modified food and the companies that produce it.

Wearing red T-shirts proclaiming “Just Say No GMOs” and carrying placards, at least 50 people marched from the Farmer’s Market on North Second Street to City Hall on Saturday morning as part of the nationwide March Against Monsanto demonstration.

Abilene was one of 250 cities across the country to protest the agricultural industry giant’s use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in seeds that grow row crops such as corn and cotton. Monsanto Co., based in St. Louis, supplies seeds to most of the nation’s farmers of those crops. As much as 70 percent of the food in stores contains GMO.

Even the organizers of the event were surprised at the response they got.

“We just put this on Facebook on Tuesday,” said Marshall Thompson, nutritional health coach at Natural Grocers.

Kerry Hedges, who runs Slow Poke Farms in Cisco with his wife, Joy, also was surprised at the turnout, given Abilene’s reputation of conservative politics.

“Abilene isn’t known for activism,” he said.

Monsanto issued a statement on Saturday saying that while it support people’s rights to speak out, it maintained that GMOs pose no health risk, a position also held by the FDA.

Thompson said no one could be sure what the risks posed by GMOs were.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “There hasn’t been enough research done.”

He added that much of the research that had been by government employees who have also been employed by Monsanto. He said there needed to be third party research.

Both Thompson and Hedges addressed the marchers with Hedges talking to them before they

started and Thompson addressing the group after they finished at City Hall. Both of the men urged the crowd to remain vigilant in putting pressure on the government to disclose what is in the foods we buy.

“This is about full disclosure,” said Thompson to the crowd. “Let’s have third parties study. Let’s just get labeling.”

“On the way over here, I was thinking about who the villains in this were,” he said. “I think I am and I think you are. We have allowed our public officials to crawl into bed with Monsanto. We need to make them (elected officials) afraid they won’t be elected.”