Activists Submit 240,000 Petitions Demanding Action to Curb Food Monopolies

WASHINGTON - On the eve of the final Department of Justice/USDA public workshop examining the effects of corporate concentration in food and agriculture, a coalition of farm and food activists submitted almost a quarter of a million (nearly 240,000) petitions calling on both the Justice Department and USDA to take swift action to curb the abusive market power that a handful of corporations exert over farmers and consumers.

"While we're encouraged by the administration's year-long investigation, it's time to fulfill President Obama's 2008 election promise to end big food's antitrust abuses," said Dave Murphy of Food Democracy Now! "Hundreds of thousands of Americans from across the country stand behind this administration to reign in excessive concentration in agriculture and we expect real action to be taken to break up the biggest offenders."

"The way the current food system operates benefits big agricultural corporations, which are getting bigger all the time-at the expense of ordinary people and the environment," said Nikhil Aziz of Grassroots International. "Small farmers, farm workers and consumers alike are asserting their rights, which ultimately will ensure a more equitable food system and a cooler planet," he added. Over the past year, thousands of family farmers and consumers have packed the workshops on"Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement Issues in Our 21st Century Economy," hosted jointly by the two Departments. From Ankeny, Iowa, and Normal, Alabama, to Madison, Wisconsin, and Fort Collins, Colorado, ordinary people have come forward to testify on panels and speak out about the handful of companies that control our food supply. The workshops have appropriately focused on farmers and livestock producers, but they are supported by thousands of consumers, food activists, antihunger advocates, and others who want a fair and equitable food system.

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Italian Activists Storm Field, Crush GM Maize

Activists storm field, crush GM maize
Crops planted illegally but no globalists'raid condemned
Ansa - Italy, Aug 9, 2010
Straight to the Source

(ANSA) - Pordenone, August 9 - A group of 70 global activists on Monday staged a lightning strike against a field of genetically modified (GM) maize, crushing all the plants and effectively preventing their harvest.

The GM crop at Vivaro, near the northeastern town of Pordenone, has been at the centre of a storm for the last two weeks, after the farmer who planted the maize, Giorgio Fidenato, announced it was ready to be harvested.

Some 70 activists, dressed alike in white overalls, were able to stomp on all the plants before police arrived and dragged them away, a spokesman for the Ya Basta anti-GM group said.

"Our action was aimed against the violence that GM crops wreak on the environment and on humans," said Luca Tornatore.

Despite widespread opposition to GM crops by most Italian farmers, the action was nevertheless roundly condemned by all. Pro-biotech group Futuragra said the raid was "an act of vandalism" and the result of "terror sown by the media" against GM crops. Farmers' union Coldiretti, which actively campaigns for organic agriculture, blasted the anti-globalists, saying that "the law must always be respected".

But Coldiretti also criticised officials for having dallied on the issue. Last week several members of the largest opposition group, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), joined MPs of the governing coalition's rightwing Northern League party at a press conference outside the Senate to protest the lack of an "effective response" to the situation at Vivaro.

An umbrella organization coordinating efforts against the crops, the Task Force for an Italy Free of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), which represents 27 conservation, farming and environmental associations, called for the "immediate destruction of fields where GM maize is grown".

It warned of a "devastating impact on the local environment, wild fauna and the crops of other farmers" if pollen from the maize was allowed to disperse.


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