Protesters push for labeling of genetically modified foods
Environmental advocates protested genetically modified food at the Liberty Pole downtown Saturday afternoon, part of a nationwide march against seed company Monsanto. “March Against Monsanto” organizers say they’re calling attention to the dangers posed by genetically modified food — also known as GMO, genetically modified organism — and the companies that produce it.
At the rally in downtown Rochester, several speakers encouraged the crowd to advocate for mandatory labeling of GMO foods. “Heck no, GMO, Monsanto has got to go,” the crowd chanted Saturday. They held black and red flags and signs, such as “If corporations are people, Monsanto must die,” and “We have a right to know if it’s GMO.”
Elizabeth Henderson, a farmer in Newark, Wayne County, asked the crowd who eats breakfast cereal, milk and crackers. “If you eat any of these things, you are a guinea pig,” she said. She encouraged the crowd to advocate for bills pending in the state Legislature that would require GMO foods be labeled. Representatives from the Sierra Club and MetroJustice also spoke, and the Sierra Club passed around a petition advocating for mandatory labeling of GMO foods.
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