In response to the company’s development of a new genetically modified sweet corn, intended for consumption fresh, rather than in processed foods as has previously been the case, protestors in California have blockaded Monsanto’s vegetable seed company distribution hub.

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The protesters, calling themselves Occupy Monsanto after the Occupy Movement which spread across the world last year, are concerned that the GM corn will not carry any labelling to differentiate itself from conventional varieties. They are concerned that, although the developers of GM crops assure that they are safe and have been tested, US food safety laws do not require any independent testing of new Gm varieties.

This is due to ‘substantial equivalence,’ the legal presumption that GM crops are the same as their conventional counterparts.  

On Wednesday, protestors at Monsanto Seminis’s Oxnard facility stopped trucks from entering or leaving the seed distribution hub for over six hours. Nine arrests were made and arrestees were charged with trespass, according to police sources.

The Occupy Monsanto group said Wednesday’s blockade marked the start of 65 autonomous actions timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests, which sparked the wider Occupy Movement a year ago. They claim actions are being prepared in the United States, Germany, Canada, India, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Russia, and Japan.

One of the protestors, David Pillar, who was wearing a hazmat suit during the blockade, said, "We are here today in civil disobedience because we believe strongly that we have no other option. It’s time for healthy food now."

In California in particular the debate over GM crops is coming to a head. The state will hold a vote on new labelling law, which would see genetically modified foods being labelled as such, in the Autumn. However, opinion over the new legislation is extremely polarised.

Large companies that fear they will lose out if labelling GM ingredients becomes compulsory have injected huge amounts of money into campaigns to stop the bill (Proposition 37) from going forward. By 15th August, the agribusiness lobby had spent at least $7 million in attempts to oppose the Right to Know campaign, which supports labelling. 

GM crops have proven controversial in virtually every global region where they are grown. Although proponents of the technology state GM is an essential tool which will help to boost yields, increase efficiency and achieve food security, detractors maintain the seeds are overhyped and potentially dangerous, having been subject to unsatisfactory testing. Many anti-GM campaigners also believe the technology’s use, as a result of patenting laws which support the industry, risks consolidating control of the world’s staple seeds in the hands of a few companies.  

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