tagged w/ Stop GMOs
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*We call on the population to demand that all produce we consume on a daily basis is GMO-free.
*We call on international agencies to condemn the Government of Mexico for violating peasant ancestral rights, as well as disrespecting biodiversity and food sovereignty, and ignoring the principle of precaution in the center of origin of basic crops that nowadays nourish the world.
*On 12 October, invite everyone to protest at the [nearest] Mexican Embassy against transgenic maize in Mexico!
Why this Call for Action on 12 October?
Monsanto has just lost 18 of 24 requests for experimental maize open-field testing in the northern regions of Mexico. These regions are Monsanto's most-wanted areas due to their commercial maize farming background: most of the everyday tortillas of the Mexican inhabitants come from there.
Therefore, the risk of having native varieties contaminated is huge and Monsanto is pressing the Government to have its requests attended [granted]. This has not happened yet, but might happen very soon.
In Mexico, October 12 is a national holiday known as Di-a de la Raza, or Day of the Race. It's a day to celebrate Mexican traditions and culture.
Besides this, in recent years, it has also been more and more used as a day for demonstrations, and to protest for social rights or defending indigenous culture. In the present context, the fragile position in which Mexican maize varieties are put, due to the menace of GM maize and GM companies, makes them a very important social and cultural value to be defended and protected.
Via Campesina in Mexico has started a campaign "Fuera Monsanto y No al Maiz Transgenico" in June. From 11 to 16 October they will protest in several regions of the country. The Network in Defense of Maize is supporting Via Campesina and will deliver the collected signatures to the Mexican Government on the 16th October. On that day some press conferences and actions might happen. So, if we do act on 12 October at our Mexican embassies, we should inform the Network in Defense of Maize, so that our international actions get to the Mexican press.
Right now, due to a climate of internal Mexican tension, our actions through Europe and worldwide increase the possibilities of resonance. By doing this, we are giving a great support to Mexico's anti-GMO struggle, and pressuring Mexican Government not to easily accept the requests of Monsanto.
**Act Now!**
Please send all press-releases, photos and other materials of every action you do at the Mexican embassy on 12 October, as well as other actions around that date, to the Network in Defense of Maize contacto@endefensadelmaiz.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so they can diffuse and promote them in Mexico. Thank you! Your support is precious!
The Defense of Maize Network is promoting a Declaration against the GMO maize, which already has about 6500 individual signatures and 1350 signatures from organizations of 74 countries by now. We would like to have your support as well.
Sign the letter now!
http://endefensadelmaiz.org/No-to-transgenic-maize.html*We call on the population to demand that all produce we consume on a daily basis is... more
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AN environmental group asked anew the Department of Agriculture (DA) to protect the welfare of Filipino consumers and farmers by prohibiting genetically modified organisms (GMO) crops in the country.
The Department of Agriculture, as an agency mandated to protect the welfare of Filipino consumers and farmers, must not only support the GMO ban, it must also institute the same in all the other provinces in the country, said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner Daniel Ocampo.
Greenpeace also called on the national government to follow the example of Negros Occidental in its vigilance against GMO crops to protect and promote sustainable agriculture in the country.
Genetic-engineering is an unnecessary and unwanted technology that contaminates the environment, threatens biodiversity, food security and farmers livelihoods and poses unacceptable risks to health. Greenpeace is therefore calling on the Philippine government, particularly the Agriculture department, to rethink its pro-GMO agricultural policies and instead focus fully on safer farming practices such as organic and sustainable agriculture, Ocampo said.
The province of Negros Occidental pioneered the ban on GMOs in the country with Provincial Ordinance 007, Series of 2007, or the Safeguard Against Genetically Modified Organisms.
Greenpeace commends the continuing diligence of the province of Negros Occidental in their unwavering efforts to protect the province from harmful GMO contamination. Negros Occidental shows that it is leading the way forward in sustainable agriculture in the country, Ocampo said.AN environmental group asked anew the Department of Agriculture (DA) to protect the... more
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