Rochester protesters condemn GMOs, Monsanto

Protesters, including Kay-Lee Waters, left, in downtown Rochester on Saturday. (Harrison Thorp photos)

ROCHESTER - Protesters decrying the presence of genetically modified organisms in the public food supply took to the streets of Rochester on Saturday in what has become an annual March Against Monsanto, the chemical corporation that produces the vast majority of GMO seeds in the country.

“It’s awful what they’re doing,” said Kay-Lee Waters of Rochester, who said she just became aware of the GMOs a month ago but is incredibly passionate about the dangers.

A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

Most of the corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the United States are grown with GMO seeds, which are spliced with DNA bacteria that protects them from insects and pests, even the herbicide that is often sprayed on it.

The problem, Waters said, is that once the DNA from one organism is spliced into another, there’s no telling what will happen.

She said there hasn’t been enough testing on what could prove devastating to the world’s food supply, including farm animals who feed on genetically modified food.

About a dozen protesters carried placards downtown and passed out literature on their movement, which is trying to pressure the government into requiring food labeling that would indicate whether or not the product contains GMOs.

Waters said an example of a GMO is when scientists found a bacteria that caused the stomach of an agricultural pest to explode, they spliced its DNA into the corn plant, itself, so that now when the bug eats part of the plant, it dies.

But now, she said, the DNA is in our bodies, too.

She said much of the corn, soybean and canola in this country is grown using Monsanto seeds.

“Most of your processed foods are already contaminated,” she said.

A protester waves a placard condemning corporate giant Monsanto for its development and selling of GMO seeds.

GMOs first came onto the scene in the mid-90s, but much of the controversy surrounding it has missed the mainstream media due to political influence, bribery and corruption, according to Seeds of Death, a two-hour documentary produced by the anti-GMO movement.

Waters said GMOs are banned in many industrialized countries, but still allowed in Canada and the United States.

She attributed Monsanto’s ability to continue to develop new GMOs to a revolving door between the FDA and Monsanto executives and the corporation’s deep pockets.

Some of the effects of GMO usage include diabetes, allergies, leaky gut and reproductive issues, according to scientists and others who are calling on the FDA to halt the practice until more long-term studies are done.

Meanwhile, Waters said at the very least the public has a right to know whether the food it is consuming has been genetically modified.

“If people saw it was genetically modified, they wouldn’t want to eat it,” she said. “But there’s no labeling, so they don’t know.”

So far the FDA has done little. The Obama administration has agreed to let Monsanto continue its research and organism engineering while more research is planned. “Ultimately it is the food producer who is responsible for assuring safety,” an FDA policy states.

Monsanto spokesman have passed the buck to the FDA, saying, “Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food … our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA’s job.”

“If the FDA won’t do it and Monsanto has no interest in doing it, then who is going to do it?” Waters asked.

Maine put a GMO labeling law on the books earlier this year, but it won't take effect until four other New England states pass similar laws. Connecticut is the only other New England state to have adopted a GMO labeling law. Connecticut and Maine want the others states on board to discourage Monsanto from suing them over the measure.

To view the documentary Seeds of Death click here.