November 17, 1999 | from a press release
CHICAGO - The battle over genetically engineered foods comes to Chicago, Thursday November 18 at noon. Sustain: The Environmental Information Group will produce the Rally to Stop Genetically Engineered Foods, featuring street theater, speakers, and hundreds of protesters concerned about the impact of genetic engineering (GE) on human health and the environment. In addition, human puppets will focus national and international attention on the US government's support for "Frankenfoods." The purpose of the rally is to demand a moratorium on GE foods because of the absence of independent long-term studies documenting safety for human health or the environment.
The Rally will occur at the Federal Plaza in Chicago at Adams and Dearborn Streets. The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) hearing on genetic engineering will occur at the federal building nearby at 77 W. Jackson. The hearing has been marred with controversy since it was announced in October. "Hundreds of people have been denied the opportunity to give public testimony at this meeting," says Jim Slama, president of Sustain. "The FDA asked for our comments yet won't listen to most of them. The rally will let the voice of the people be heard."
The rally comes at a critical time for biotech companies because farmers are in the process of deciding whether to plant genetically engineered crops for year 2000. The FDA hearing is the first of three scheduled across the country, each of which is expected to be a magnet for civil protest. In addition, the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, later this month, will have genetic engineering on the agenda of both international trade ministers and activists. "If US consumers reject genetically engineered food like in Europe and Asia, it could be a death knell for the biotech food industry," says Slama. "You can already see this reflected in the precipitous drop in the stock price of industry leader Monsanto."
Of primary concern to GE opponents is the fact that the FDA has consistently relied upon manufacturers' studies to establish safety. "Any genetically engineered food must be proven to be safe before it is allowed on the market," says Joe Mendelson, legal director of The Center for Food Safety which has sued the FDA over this issue. "Genetically engineered food could create new toxins, antibiotic resistance, allergic reactions, and other dietary risks for unwitting consumers. Up until now the government has considered these products 'Generally Recognized as Safe' and not required any mandatory pre-market safety testing. This is a violation of the public's trust and clearly illegal."
Organic farmers are also up in arms because genes from genetically-engineered plants such as corn and soybeans can drift onto organic crops. In the process of pollination some of the organic crop can take on the genetically-engineered plants form, thus endangering the end product. In one case, an organic manufacturer had to recall corn chips from Europe because they tested positive for a small amount of genetically-engineered corn. "These crops pose a significant economic threat for organic farmers," says John Peterson, manager of Angelic Organics, the midwest's largest community supported organic farm. "There are no legitimate safeguards to protect organic crops from being polluted."
The rally will feature brief presentations from Slama, Mendelson, and Peterson. Also on the agenda is Jane Akre, Investigative Reporter and Anchor for Fox-owned WTVT-TV. She recently filed suit against the station charging she was wrongfully terminated in December 1997 for refusing to broadcast a story she knew to be false and misleading, concerning genetically-engineered milk. Akre contends that the biotech giant Monsanto pressured Fox to alter the story. (For more information see foxbghsuit.com)
Internationally recognized public health expert Dr. Samuel Epstein will warn of the risks of GE milk from cows injected with the genetically-engineered Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH.) "GE milk differs nutritionally and in many other ways from natural milk and the hormone induces a wide range of toxic effects in cows," says Dr. Epstein who is professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Drinking GE milk poses serious health risks, particularly for children, of developing breast, colon, and prostate cancer. This evidence, which has been the basis of the Canadian and European ban on GE milk, has been denied and suppressed by both the FDA and Monsanto."
The rally climax will be led by Sustain creative director John Beske and will feature street theater which engages Chicago children in a dramatic representation of the dangers of genetic engineering. "The FDA's lack of scientific rigor towards genetic engineering is appalling," says Beske.
"We will dress youths as Monarch butterflies and subject them to the poisonous pollen of genetically-engineered corn. The symbolic death of these children clearly represents the toxic threat genetic engineering poses on humans and our environment."
