Nicole Bissell was hoping to reach 50 people when she started organizing a local march to join a global day of action.
Her expectations were shattered Saturday as more than 200 people marched on Memorial Avenue for the March Against Monsanto, a global protest that hit more than 250 cities. The protestors want to raise awareness about genetically modified food and Monsanto, a biotechnology corporation that is the leading producer of modified seed.
“A lot of people don’t know what’s going on, including myself,” Bissell said. “I just learned about all this in the last year and it’s scary.”
Bissell said the large turnout is proof that people care about their food.
“It makes me very excited that I’m changing some lives hopefully,” she said.
Cara McMaster said Monsanto’s patents are hurting local food producers.
“It takes the farmers rights away,” she said. “We don’t think that’s fair.”
If governments won’t ban genetically modified foods, McMaster and Bissell said those foods should at least be labeled. While thousands of food products in Canada contain some genetically modified material, there is no mandatory labeling requirement.
“We want to know what we’re feeding our children,” Bissell said. “If you have a right to know what kind of material is in your mattress why don’t you have a right to know what you’re putting in your mouth?”
