Greenville Protest Planned Against Genetically-Modified Foods

While thousands of Upstate folks will be taking to local pools, festivals, cookouts and other forms of leisure activities this Memorial Day Weekend, some will be protesting.

Specifically, hundreds are being encouraged to gather Saturday afternoon in Greenville's County Square to protest the use of unlabeled, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) used in the foods that Americans eat, WYFF reported.

The Greenville march, which is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. at County Square, located at 301 University Ridge, is just one of many scheduled throughout the nation.

The so-called "March Against Monsanto," is aimed at the U.S.-based agriculture and biotech giant and the recently signed Farmer Assurance Provision (aka the "Monsanto Protection Act" by its critics) which would limit the ability of judges to stop Monsanto or the farmers it sells genetically modified seeds to from growing or harvesting those crops even if courts find evidence of potential health risks.

GMO critics consider such genetically modified foods unhealthy and, at a minimum, demand that such foods be mandated to carry labels warning consumers.

The provision, a rider slipped into House Resolution 933 earlier this year to avoid a government shutdown, is set expire on Sept. 30. However, GMO critics worry about the precedent the provision sets going forward, potentially allowing Monsanto and other such firms to proliferate GMOs at will.

“For us [my husband and I], this isn’t just about protesting against big biotech firms like Monsanto," Greenville march participant Jessica Bayne said in a news release. "This is about bringing awareness to the Upstate — to spotlight a problem that is big and growing. 

"Our food supply is filled with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, that are, we believe, wreaking havoc on our bodies," Bayne added. "For the sake of all of our futures, we decided it was time to do something, anything, to just start a conversation — to get people asking questions and researching.”  

For more on the Greenville march, read the original article here.