March 21, 2000 / from a press release
Wayzata, Minnesota -- Members of the Upper Midwest Resistance Against
Genetic Engineering (GrainRAGE) shut down the international headquarters of
Cargill today. Before employees arrived this morning, GrainRAGE members in
white biohazard suits and respirators blocked the road into the Cargill
compound with cars and their bodies.
Two hours later, the blockade was cleared, but no arrests were made. "We are
following the lead of peasant farmers around the world by acting in self
defense against genetic engineering and corporate agribusiness," said
GrainRAGE member Foster Wildness.
Cargill is one of the world's foremost proponents of genetic engineering. It
develops genetically modified organisms, and last September donated $10
million to the University of Minnesota for a plant genetics research
facility.
Cargill also has ties to biotechnology leader Monsanto. Cargill sold its
international seed business to Monsanto in 1998 and has agreed to
manufacture commercial livestock and poultry feeds produced from Monsanto's
proprietary germplasm.
Scientists, farmers, and ecologists warn that biotechnology will raise
farmers'
costs, destroy farm and natural ecosystems, and endanger human health.
Cargill controls 45 percent of the global grain market, including more than
40
percent of US corn exports and a third of US soybean exports. Cargill is
also
one of the world's largest producers and distributors of synthetic
fertilizers
and pesticides. Farmers' groups around the world maintain that they are
being put out of business because agribusiness conglomerates, including
Cargill, now control the markets for both agricultural inputs and products.
In the recent years, direct actions against corporate agribusiness and
genetic
engineering have been on the rise. In late 1998, Indian farmers burned
Monsanto's genetically engineered cotton crops. One month later, Indian
farmers stormed Monsanto's offices and destroyed the company's records. In
France, members of the 20,000-strong Peasant Confederation destroyed
Novartis' genetically altered corn seed in January 1998 and AGR-EVO genetic
rice test plots in June 1999. Test crop trashings have also become frequent
in Britain and the United States. And just last month, Greenpeace volunteers
successfully boarded a barge carrying Cargill's genetically modified
soybeans and demanded that the vessel leave British waters.
GrainRAGE is a network of people in the Upper Midwest who promote small
scale organic agriculture and food self-sufficiency by attacking corporate
agribusiness and all forms of biotechnology.
(posted without permission)
