March Against Monsanto @ Union Square - Saturday, May 25, 2013

[Where]

Union Square 50 E 17th St New York

[Description]

MAY 25/DAY OF INFO: Wear Red! Bring creative signs and props! 1pm Rally: Union Square 2pm March: Union Square 3pm Teach Ins/Discussions: Washington Square Park 5:00pm: Community Assembly Washington Square Park DAY OF COMMUNICATION: JOIN our text loop via SMS by texting: @MAMNYC to 23559 (USA mobile phones only, or use Cel.ly free app for smart phones) Speakers include:

Bonnie Lane Weber (Sierra Club), Jon Stepanian (Long Island Food Not Bombs), Eric Weltman (Food & Water Watch), Bernadette Martin (Friends & Farmers of Kennedy Plaza), Christine Segal (WakeUP & Live), Julieanna Hever (nutritionist, author), Brendan Hunt (blogger, activist), Vincent Nunes (blogger, activist).

Teach ins on: food justice, GMOs and the vegan option; community direct action 101: feed your neighbors/fight corporate greed; seed sovereignty; eating for life.

Discussions: Bring topics you'd like to address, be thinking of actionable next steps and how this rally can help you take them!

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DO BRING:

Water – We will be marching through the streets, so please keep hydrated.

Banners/Signs – Do you have a message you'd like heard? Paint/draw it on a banner/sign and bring it! (no metal or wooden holders by police norm)

Flyers/pamphlets – Another way to have your message spread quickly is to print information on small flyers or pamphlets and hand them out along the route.

Camera – Feel free to bring your cameras and take as many photos/videos as you can! Creative props - paper mache FrankenFoods?

DO NOT BRING:

WEAPONS OF ANY KIND – REMEMBER, this is a peaceful protest and we wish to keep it that way.

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MARCH MISSION STATEMENT: goo.gl/IozwF 

Email: maminnyc@gmail.com Twitter @MAMNYC

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Greetings, citizens of New York City. We are the voices of many, and we are well beyond infuriated. Over the past months we have witnessed many atrocious acts committed by our very own government that accumulates in multitudes.

Most recently, while most of us were distracted by the Supreme Court case dealing with the Constitutionality of same-sex marriages within the state of California, our ever so beloved leaders stealthily signed into law the Monsanto Protection Act, or the Farmer Assurance Provision 2013. This bill states that the Secretary of Agriculture may grant temporary deregulation status so that genetically modified organism (GMO) farmers and growers may continue the cultivation of biotech crops that had previously been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), even as legal challenges against the safety of those crops are underway, and prevents courts from interceding the review process.

 What's even more hideous is the clear, cold fact that lawmakers and lawyers from Monsanto collaborated in creating the provisions of this criminal act.

Yes, that is correct; Sen. Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, worked in collusion with lawyers of Monsanto to create legislation that allowed the sale of GM products that were harmful to the country's citizens.

Though the legislation will only remain in effect for six months until the government finds another way to fund its operations, it sends a message that corporations can get around consumer safety protections if they get Congress on their side.

Furthermore, it sets a precedent that suggests that court challenges are a privilege, not a right. The people have spoken, and we in the consensus vibrate with outrage.

Does your stomach churn at the mere mention of these sick-in-the-head individuals ruling our every moment?

Then join us on May the 25th as we march through NYC and show Monsanto, Congress, the President, and the World that We, the people as a whole, united as one, have had enough.

Stand beside your fellow brothers and sisters as we stand up against those who wish to do us harm so that they may rake in cash at the cost of our health, lives, and families.

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PLANNING MEETING SPACE: A: CONFERENCE CALLS: REGISTER NOW: register now for the MAMNYC planning conference calls at: http://bit.ly/13IxUb6 

INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING FOR THE MAMNYC: Please fill out this form: http://bit.ly/11biQBb

INTERESTED on SKILL SHARING OR TEACHING during FREE SCHOOL: http://bit.ly/13Lnr24