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"As the U.S. Supreme Court has declared corporations like Monsanto to be ‘people’ with the same rights as us, it must mean that Monsanto was once a child. His parents clearly had high hopes, as his name implies – Mon Santo, or "My Holy."

However, I am pretty sure from what I have discovered about Monsanto that he is not a child I would like to have known.

As a child, BOYsanto began to make creations that copied the natural world. One of his first products was the artificial sweetener saccharin. That was just the beginning…"

— Excerpt from a speech given by a young boy, Ci Yin Oliveira, at the protest that shut-down a Monsanto research facility in Davis, CA, March 16 and 17, 2012. Oliveira tells Monsanto’s story as if, as the Supreme Court has ruled, Monsanto were actually a person. Please watch and share the video of Oliveira’s clever story, then read on to learn more about the problem of giving corporations the legal rights of people and what we can do to control corporations like Monsanto.

Watch & Learn More

If you’re in the Washington, D.C.-area, please on April 2, 2012.

Agenda & Registration

As we mentioned in last week’s Bytes, Alexis will also be speaking at the Occupy EPA rally in D.C. tomorrow.

Earlier that morning, she’ll be delivering the Corporate Fool award to Monsanto’s Washington, D.C. lobbying offices (see below).

You can also meet up with her April 5 and 13 at the National Occupation of Washington, D.C. Social Forum where she’ll be presenting workshops on OCA’s upcoming BioDemocracy campaign.

SUPPORT THE OCF AND OCA

A sincere thank you to the thousands of you who donated to our special fundraising campaign for the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act.
 
Every dollar donated went  directly into the fund that will be used to support Ballot Initiative signature gatherers, media experts, consultants, and lawyers who will work together to get GMO labeling on the ballot, and pass this law in November.

If you weren’t able to pitch in this time, but you’ve signed petitions, or helped get the word out by sharing articles or telling friends about this campaign – or other GMO labeling campaigns – thank you! Every action counts.
 
Thanks to your support, Monsanto knows that millions of Americans demand the right to know whether or not their food has been genetically engineered, and want an end to the routine practice of labeling or advertising GMO-tainted foods as "natural."

For an Organic Future,

Ronnie Cummins
Director, Organic Consumers Association and Organic Consumers Fund

P.S.: The Organic Consumers Fund is a 501(c)4 allied organization of the Organic Consumers Association, focused on grassroots lobbying and legislative action. Donations are not tax-deductible. If you need to make a tax-deductible donation, you can contribute to the Organic Consumers Association, a 501(c)3. Your donation to the OCA will be used for general public education and grassroots mobilization.

Monsanto has won Green America’s online contest as the biggest "Corporate Fool" of the year. The agricultural and chemical giant came in first, followed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Chevron.

Monsanto won hands-down for its toxic legacy, which includes Agent Orange, DDT, massive aerial spraying of Round-Up as a drug war tactic, as well as unlabeled and hazardous genetically engineered crops. Monsanto’s corporate deeds damage human health and the environment, destabilize the climate, and put small farmers out of business. They continue to push genetically modified crops in the developing world, deliberately locking farmers into deadly cycles of debt and dependence on chemical crop inputs.

To "honor" Monsanto as the nation’s biggest corporate fool, a donation was made in the name of Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant to Navdanya, an organization in India that works with small farmers to promote seed sovereignty, fair trade, and sustainable agriculture.

If you’re in the D.C. area, please join OCA Political Director Alexis Baden-Mayer at the Corporate Fools awards ceremony tomorrow, March 30th, from 10:30am to 12pm. We’ll meet at Green America’s offices at 1612 K Street, NW Suite 600, Washington, DC 2006 at 10:30am.

Press Release

The House Agriculture Committee has announced that they will be holding a public hearing April 12th from 6:30-8:30 at the State House for Vermonters to voice their opinions on H.722. 

This is our best opportunity to let our legislators know that we want to see genetically engineered foods labeled, so if you are in Vermont please make sure you come and show your support! If you can’t make it to the State House on April 12th, and you live in Vermont please take action by calling in to your representatives so your voice will not be missed or sign the petition.
 
Sign the Petition Here
Their Website

Video of the Week

"Our soils aren’t soil anymore, they’re dirt, D-I-R-T, the four-letter D-word in soils, because dirt doesn’t have the life. It doesn’t have the level of organic matter and that’s what we’ve done to our farmland."

— Dr. Elaine Ingham, President and Director of Research, Rodale, 2011, President and Director of Research Soil Foodweb Inc., 1996-2011

is director/producer Deborah Koons Garcia’s follow-up to the Future of Food, the best documentary on genetic engineering.

covers all of the most important issues OCA works on, making the case that returning to soil-enriching organic agriculture is the only way for humanity to reverse and survive the triple crisis that faces us: peak oil, global climate change and the toxification of our environment.

The film had its world premier in Washington, D.C. at the Environmental Film Festival on March 25, 2012, and it will be shown around the country at film festivals and commercial release. Don’t miss it!

Sign up to attend or host a screening and pre-order a copy of the DVD today!

There’s a new educational version of the important Vanishing of the Bees documentary for students grades 5 thru 11. The 30 minute version comes with a 13 page study guide, which was written by Leslie Comnes who wrote the guide for Food Inc.

Vanishing of the Bees has paired up with Save the Honey Bee Foundation so that for every $50 donated, a school (can be of your choosing) gets a free copy and part of the proceeds go to the Vanishing of the Bees nonprofit.

Donate to Send Vanishing of the Bees to a school

The 30 minute educational version is also available for free online. The password is "student."

Watch

Eden Foods is one of the few national organic food producers who goes beyond the USDA Organic Standards. Although Eden Foods is USDA certified, their products do not bear the USDA seal, because they say the USDA standard really represents a “minimum standard” that Eden Foods goes far beyond.

As a subscriber to Organic Bytes, you can enjoy a 15% discount rate on any Eden Foods products by going here.

Learn More