B&G Wed Test Page
Black & Green Wednesday
FILM & PANEL DISCUSSION: Unnatural Selection — Agribusiness vs. Healthy Food
WHEN: 7:00 pm, Wednesday, October 5, 2011
WHERE: Legacy Books and Café, 5249 Delmar (near Union) 63108
* Anita Collins, Founder of My Children’s Children
* Joe Pollack, Journalist
* James Meinert, New Roots Urban Farm Cooperative
* Barbara Chicherio, Gateway Green Alliance [moderator]
The DVD Unnatural Selection portrays effects what corporate takeover of the food system means for farmers. Genetic engineering has allowed the criminalization of the age-old practice of farmers’ saving seed. They are becoming little more than serfs under the control of giant companies.
In addition to preserving the right of farmers to decide what they plant, agricultural integrity means that consumers have the right to know what is in their food. Monsanto has worked against both of these. It has brought hundreds of lawsuits against farmers for saving their seeds. And it has vigorously opposed labeling foods with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Now Monsanto is using a new tactic. Its “American Farmers Grow Communities” program aims to award $3 million in early 2012 in addition to $4 million distributed in 2011. Intended recipients include urban farming groups, homeless shelters and school garden programs.
Monsanto also intends to provide money to local Farmer’s Markets groups promoting local, sustainable agriculture. Yet, organic farming is the polar opposite of industrial agriculture, which is based on monocultures, genetically engineered plants, patenting of life forms, and of course herbicides like Round Up. People have a right to food security: access to a sustainable supply of safe, nutritious foods that is free of toxins and biological hazards.
Sponsored by Gateway Green Alliance and Universal African Peoples Organization. For more information call 314-727-8554 or visit: