March 22, 2000 / AgWeb.com / Roger Bernard
While 2,500 farmers gathered in Washington to call for scrapping the 1996 Farm Act, a satellite event took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, yesterday.
And, we're not talking that it was a broadcast of the event in Washington, either.
According to the following article in this morning's Minneapolis Star Tribune, Here's what happened:
Two people were arrested for trespassing Tuesday morning after they shackled themselves to cars used to block the entrance to Cargill Inc. headquarters in Minnetonka. Traffic was backed up for nearly 2 miles along West McGinty Road while firefighters cut the 18-year-old women from the vehicles. The area was cleared by 8:45 a.m., just as 40 other demonstrators gathered at the entrance of the agribusiness' headquarters.
Cargill security and at least nine law enforcement officers scrutinized the scene of the demonstration, which ended peacefully 2* hours after it began.
The demonstrators said they'd come to show support for farmers gathered in Washington, D.C., for the "Rally for Rural America."
In a mock trial of Cargill, the demonstrators blamed the company for low commodity prices, the downfall of family farms and several other agriculture woes. They said Cargill had grown too big and controlled too much of the world food supply.
Rob Johnson, Cargill's corporate vice president for public affairs, said the company disagreed with the demonstrators' solutions to farmers' problems.
"We don't think the problem is with farm policy but with trade policies -- our country's and those of other countries."
The demonstration was sponsored by Upper Midwest GrainRAGE (Resistance Against Genetic Engineering) and the Agriculture Action Network. GrainRAGE members claimed responsibility for blocking Cargill's entrance. Later, when some shouted "Burn Cargill" and cursed the company, Network members told them to stop.
And, lest you think that there were only non-farmers at this event, we understand that there were two farmers there. Even if it was only two farmers, it's another event that was designed to draw attention to the plight of farmers.:
