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The photos and video here were taken by Mark Apollo. See his personal website for his “collection of photographs, insights, interviews, notes and news regarding activism in NYC and beyond”. The grassroots New York City March Against Monsanto took place on May 20th in Bryant Park and in concert with protests synchronized by the March Against Monsanto organization across the globe. Here is the press release from the NYC march:

We are grassroots activists, organizations, and communities from around the world united to March Against Monsanto. In New York City this monumental activist action happens annually to address the continued and sustained exploitive conditions Monsanto has imposed on our communities, not only here in the United States, but Worldwide, as well as the atrocities it has placed upon the delicate web of life on our planet.

Over the past few months (and years) we have witnessed many atrocious acts committed by our very own government that are continuing to accumulate in multitudes. In 2013 our ever so beloved leaders stealthily signed into law the Farmer Assurance Provision, 2013, otherwise known as the Monsanto Protection Act. 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 in 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; Republican Senator Roy Blunt from Missouri, worked in collusion with lawyers from Monsanto to create legislation that allows the sale of harmful GM products to our country’s citizens. Though it will only remain in effect for six months, until the government finds another way to fund its operations, the message it sends is 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.

We will not stand for cronyism. We will not stand for the poisoning of our planet and our population…That is why we March Against Monsanto.

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