March Against Monsanto 2014: In Review

May 24, 2014

My son and I just got back from attending the March Against Monsanto 2014.  This was my second year attending (for 2013 see: March Against Monsanto – In Review).  Despite the fact that the turn-out for the march was smaller this year, the movement is definitely growing!  Just four days ago both Jackson & Josephine Counties passed bans on growing GMO crops in these counties!

There is a Right To Know GMO labeling petition being circulated now for the November election.  For those of you who would like to sign, please come to one of our upcoming events, as I will be bringing petitions and collecting signatures.

For those of you who still don’t understand why we oppose GMOs, take a look at Jeffery Smith’s talkat the Wise Traditions Conference.

K'nex No-GMO Sign

The Sign:

Before leaving home my 8-year-old son decided he had to make a custom sign for the event.  He designed and constructed a K’nex handle and frame that held a foam core sign in the center.  He was putting the finishing touches on it in the van as we drove into town.  I told him it would be the only sign like it!  I am very proud of his dedication and creativity.  He got a lot of complements on his sign while we were marching, which helped make the event enjoyable for him.

The March:

A few marched in the street

It was another lovely Spring day, with nearly perfect weather for marching.  As last year, we gathered at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza.  There were a few speakers (which I could have done without), and then we finally got to marching at 1 PM.  Last year we were told to stay on the sidewalk, and when we got to a corner keep going, we had permission to cross against the lights.  This year were told to stay on the sidewalk and stop at the lights.  Some energetic young activists chose to march in the street anyway.

Here are a few of the sign slogans I captured in photos:

  • No GMO
  • Save the Bees Stop Monsanto
  • Might Does Not Make Right!
  • Marching past the EWEB building

  • GMO Free Oregon
  • Save The Bees
  • Envision a Healthy Planet
  • Honk if You Love Bees
  • Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat High Fructose Corn Syrup
  • Dead Hives Tell No Lies
  • Who’s Side are You On?
  • Bio Pesticides = Autism
    Organic Food is Medicine
  • The World Doesn’t Need Your GMOs
  • People of Resistance Create Gardens of Resilience
  • GMO OMG
  • Monsanto, Stop Trying to Get In My Plants
  • Label GMOS
  • Genesis 1:11-12  – “And God said, Let the Earth bring Forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself upon the Earth: an it was so.  And the Earth brought Forth grass, and the herb yielding seed after it’s kind: and God saw that it was good.”
  • Monsanto Go Away!
  • Demand Non-GMO
  • A line of marchers as far as I could see!

  • Save Food, Our Right to Know
  • Monsanto No No No
  • Bee Smart, Stop Using Garden Chemicals, Save the Honeybees
  • We the People Say NO
  • Hell No GMO
  • GMOs Have: Never Been Proven Safe, Reduced Crop Yields, Killed Bees/Pollinators, Require More & More Herbicides/Pesticides That Pollute Our Water, Damage Organic Crops
  • Ban Bee Killing Neonicatoids
  • Who Decides How We Live?
  • Local Seeds Matter, Seed Saving is a Human Right and Necessity
  • I (heart) MY (Apple) just the way it is!  Stay Away!
  • Stay Away from My (Apple)
  • (photo) Glyphosate-Resistant Horseweed in Soybean
    (photo) Glyphosate-Resistant Giant Ragweed in Roundup Ready Corn
    The Resilience of Life
    Nature Defeats Monsanto
  • 1 Million $ Can’t Buy JACK’son county

People in cars honked as we marched.  My son counted 37 honks before he gave up on counting (there were at least double that number).

We marched through down town, past 5th Street Public Market and up over Ferry Street Bridge.  This year we stayed on the far side of the river, so we did not cross back the other way on the bridge and get to see the length of the line down both sides (see the awesome sight from last year).  We paused on the bridge for a few minutes and waved our signs.  Then we headed down the bike path into the park.

 

Music, Speakers & Booths at Alton Baker Park

Music & Speakers:

At the end of the march we gathered in Alton Baker Park.  There was a stage with live music and a few booths set up.  We got a picnic lunch out of the car and ate it on the grass (or at least most of it.  A dog on a leash came by and swiped a whole nitrate-free beef hotdog off our tray!).  Coconut Bliss was selling ice cream and giving all proceeds to the Right to Know GMO labeling cause.  The music was had a lovely Latin beat and a few people danced.  Most people visited and enjoyed the music and speakers and checked out the booths before heading home.

One of the speakers was a woman who told us the story of her daughter having brain cancer.  They tested the urine of both herself and her daughter and found that they contained Roundup (Monsanto’s weedkiller), at a rate much higher than average Americans.  Their rates were 15 for the mom and 18 for the daughter.  She said that the average in America is 7, and in Europe it is 1!  The good news is that the daughter is cancer-free 10 years later.  They had the testing done through Moms Across America.

 

"Fishy Soybean" Car

A Few Tips for Planners in 2015:

My advice to event organizers for next year is to save the speakers for after the march.  It feels good to lie in the grass after the march and listen to speakers.  Before the event we were just antsy to get going, and I heard that at least one person had to leave before the march began.  I say get moving before the energy starts to wane and you’ll have more energetic marchers!

My other suggestion is to pick ONE easy chant to use.  There were people up and down the line who were supposed to be leading us in chants, but each one was different and out of sync with the next.  The best one in my opinion was “Hey, hey, ho, ho, GMO, has got to go!”   Simple, easy.  Stick with it.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience and I am glad I went and glad my son joined me this year.  I hope by the time he grows up we have joined the 64 other countries around the world who have already banned GMOs, and he can spend his energies working on other goals.

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