Strangechord

I’m not surprised that there has been little in the mainstream media news the past four days about the current protest in Sacramento. Starting on Friday and going through tomorrow, thousands are gathered in Sacramento to speak out against the corporate take-over of the world’s food supply. Apparently, the USDA is spending close to $3 million on the conference, which is designed to showcase U.S. agricultural biotechnology to the agriculture ministers from more than 100 countries. Many rallies, marches, workshops, and speeches have been going on. From the sacmobilization web site:

This June the Bush administration, USAID, USDA, and the State Department are hosting government ministers from 180 nations and transnational corporate reps in a meeting to pave the way for ‘free trade,’ privatization of water, genetic engineering and factory farming. This ministerial is one of the key stepping stones for the Bush administration and their corporate backers to push through their agenda in the lead up to the next World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun in September. This is why millions of small farmers around the world have called for protests at the Sacramento ministerial to denounce the corporate take over of the global food supply.

Naturally, there has been a shitload of cops and they have been arresting activists left and right. Indymedia Biotech is reporting breaking news from the streets. Portland Indymedia also has a special section covering the scene. I so wish I could’ve been there this week; the more I’ve learned about food corporations, factory farming, fast food giantism, and genetically modified crops, the more I am absolutely convinced the issue of the future of healthy, fair food on this planet is one in which everyone should be involved. Go protestors!

On a similar note, the European Union is thankfully defending itself after bitter accusations from the U.S. that the EU is responsible for world famine because of its stand against GM food. The EU actually provides much more food aid in the world than the U.S.! The fact is also that African nations themselves are rejecting GM food, and rightfully so. They know that allowing the U.S.-manufactured GM seed to cross with their own natural seed could “pose hidden health risks or lead to super-weeds”. Get this: “Bush told a biotechnology conference on Monday that the EU should lift its restrictions “for the sake of a continent threatened by famine.” It really angers me that Bush is painting the rejection of GM crops as catastrophic, when it instead has everything to do with his wanting to appease and make a profit for biotech/agri-corporations. Grrr! How dare the U.S. push its money-making agenda on countries that have a different principle?

The fact that Bush is threatening to withhold AIDS relief funds to Africa over this is equally outrageous. “We do not tie our aid to our policy. In a way, it is a bit worrying to see that the United States in the pharmaceutical aid tries to impose GMO acceptance as a condition for pharmaceutical aid,” Thomas (an EU spokesman) said.