So far, more than 200 area residents have pledged to gather locally on May 25 in a worldwide rally called March Against Monsanto.   Monsanto is a US-based chemical company that produces and promotes GMOs and lobbies to prevent their labeling.

“Tired of Monsanto poisoning our food and environment?” the Bozeman March Against Monsanto Facebook page asks.  “Come make your voice heard!”

Thanks to hundreds of similar Facebook pages, the movement has gone viral.  March Against Monsanto will happen simultaneously in 36 countries on six different continents.  In the US, rallies will happen in 47 states, including four in Montana (Helena, Missoula, Kalispell and here).

Monsanto has a deadly legacy that includes the production of Agent Orange, a highly toxic carcinogen used in the Vietnam War; and DDT, the now-banned bug spray that caused a national environmental crisis and put many animals on the brink of extinction including the Bald Eagle.  Research now shows GMOs and their chemical residues linked to cancer, infertility, allergies, inflammation and birth defects.

“There are currently no GMO labeling laws in the US,” says Jacobus Hollewijn, owner of Gesundheit! Nutrition Center and host of the “Gesundheit! with Jacobus” radio program that airs every Saturday morning from 8 to 11 on AM 1450 KMMS and on AM 1340 KPRK.   “We need these genetically modified foods labeled so people can choose whether or not to eat them once they find out how nutritionally deficient and dangerous they really are.”

Local organizers want to educate the public about the health and environmental risks of genetically modified foods, especially since Monsanto successfully waged a multi-million dollar campaign last year in California to defeat a voter referendum that would have required labels on all genetically modified foods.  And more recently, the President and Congress signed a bill into law dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act,” which allows Monsanto to puts GMOs on the market despite legal challenges over their safety.

“We want our community to know about the significant changes that have been happening to our nation’s food supply without sufficient research and with little public oversight” says Shon Wedde, a MAM organizer.  “Transparency and facts will enable people to vote with their food dollar.”

“Our children are even more susceptible to damage because their digestive and immune systems aren’t fully developed,” says Willow Black, another MAM organizer.  “I strongly believe we must pay close attention to what they eat.  As a parent, I’m deeply concerned.”

The rally will begin at 9:00 am at the Bozeman Food CoOp Central Kitchen at 711 West Main where speakers will talk about the need to label food containing GMOs.  At 11:30, participants will then march to the Gallatin County Court House.  In the weeks leading up to the rally, the Montana Movement Arts Center (The MAC) will host a number of film showings and discussions about GMOs and related topics. For more info, visit May 25th Bozeman March Against Monsanto on Facebook or contact gmofreebozeman@gmail.com.