A Wisconsinite who reads SANET but doesn't post to the list asked if
I would forward this to you all. She passed this along in response to
Sean McGovern's query earlier this week about concerted actions
regarding the Terminator gene.
peace
misha
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Greens/ Green Party USA
Clearinghouse: PO Box 1134, Lawrence MA 01842
(978) 682-4353
From: Mitchel Cohen
2652 Cropsey Ave. #7H
Brooklyn, NY 11214
(718) 449-0037
ANNOUNCING: THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST
BIODEVASTATION/GENETIC ENGINEERING
Representatives of The Greens/Green Party USA joined delegates from
around the world on July 17-19, 1998, in St. Louis, Missouri, at the
founding meeting of the International Campaign Against
BioDevastation/Genetic Engineering.
At the national Green Party Congress that immediately followed the
gathering, the Green Party USA announced plans to make the campaign
against genetic engineering its latest coordinated nationwide effort.
GPUSA unanimously voted to endorse the International Campaign,
instruct its candidates to raise the issues around genetic
engineering in their electoral campaigns, and organize mass
participation in the movement against genetically engineered
agriculture and bio-colonialism.
Represented at the Biodevastation gathering were concerned scientists
and representatives of popular movements from Japan, Ireland,England,
Mexico, the European Parliament, India and the United States. Groups
represented included Greenpeace, Women's Environmental Network, Pure
Food Campaign, Edmonds Institute, Rural Advancement Foundation
International, Institute for Social Ecology, National Family Farm
Coalition, Family Farm Defenders, Council of Canadians, Genetics
Forum (U.K.), Seikatsu Club (Japan), and the Green Parties of Europe,
Mexico, Canada and the U.S.A., among others.
The 200 participants called for:
1) An immediate ban on genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone,
endorsing the campaign to rid rBGH from school milk.
2) Keeping our forests, farms and food safe, and opposing the genetic
engineering of all plants and animals.
3) Abolishing patents of genetic sequences and living organisms in
the form of "intellectual property rights."
4) Stopping the National Violence Initiative Project (U.S.), and an
immediate halt to the drugging of Black and Latino children in the
name of their supposed "genetic predisposition" to committing
crimes. (Contrary to the assumptions of the Violence Initiative
Project, the convention asserted, neither behavior nor intelligence
is racially or genetically determined.)
5) Disbanding the Human Genome Diversity Project and putting an end
to the colonization of the genes of indigenous people.
6) An immediate cessation of administering experimental and
genetically engineered drugs to prisoners, people living on American
Indian reservations, and people in so-called "third world"
countries.
7) A ban on "Terminator" seed technology and patent, the immediate
cessation of all "Terminator" tests and a banning of its
application.
8) Encouraging smaller-scaled organic farming, local food systems,
home-scale gardening, and ecosystem restoration. The convention
opposed the consolidation of corporate and monocrop farming and
their reliance on genetic engineering and toxic herbicides and
insecticides.
The delegates held an exciting and colorful rally in front of the
World Headquarters of the Monsanto Corporation, a major player in the
development of genetically engineered agriculture, including the
newly patented "Terminator" technology.
In addition, the International Campaign Against Biodevastation/
Genetic Engineering supported the call for world-wide days of action
against genetic engineering on October 2-16, 1998, with Oct. 15th as
a day of coordinated actions.
The St. Louis gathering formed a coordinating committee, with
representation from different regions of the U.S., and announced
plans for follow-up meetings in Mexico and India over the next two
years.
The Green Party selected Mitchel Cohen of Brooklyn, New York, and
Mary Israel of Lake Worty, Florida, to coordinate its work around
genetic engineering and its participation in the International
Campaign.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager
Center for Integrated Ag Systems
UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences
Voice: (608) 262-8018 FAX: (608) 265-3020
http://www.wisc.edu/cias/
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If you knew what life was worth, you
would look for yours on earth. --Bob Marley
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