{"id":243079,"date":"2016-05-12T07:33:21","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T07:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=243079"},"modified":"2016-10-18T13:44:48","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T13:44:48","slug":"pesticides-gmos-corporate-control-poster-child-monsanto-neil-young-main-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/pesticides-gmos-corporate-control-poster-child-monsanto-neil-young-main-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Pesticides, GMOs and Corporate Control: The Poster Child is Monsanto but Neil Young is the Main Act\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil Young has a long history of activism. He is a co-founder of Farm Aid, which\u00a0works to support small and family farmers in North America, while his\u00a0song Ohio is\u00a0often considered<\/a>\u00a0to be one of the greatest protest songs ever made. Last year, Young pledged a\u00a0$100,000 donation<\/a>\u00a0to Vermont’s legal fight against the GMO-labelling lawsuit, and he has recently been involved in putting together a\u00a0new website<\/a>\u00a0that will help people engage with issues such as GMOs, farming, ecology, justice and climate change (access the site\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

His new albums\u00a0The Monsanto Years\u00a0(2015) and\u00a0Earth\u00a0(2016) have\u00a0a strong anti-corporate theme running through them and feature songs exploring global hunger, pesticides, GMOs, seeds and ecology.\u00a0Young spent part of 2015 touring the US. The tour was different from the usual concert tour because it was accompanied by an \u2018activist village\u2019 comprising a coalition of leading non-profit organisations housed in numerous tents.<\/p>\n

These organisations travelled with Young and his band to raise awareness and educate concert-goers about the deleterious impacts of industrial agriculture, environmental issues and the negative impact of corporate control of government. The tour gave\u00a0a diverse group of NGOs\u00a0involved in ecology and social justice issues\u00a0an opportunity to reach out to the public with their message and materials.<\/p>\n

The village comprised six tents with the themes of GMOs, earth ecology, energy and climate, freedom and justice, future of farming and news you can trust (the same as those on the new website).\u00a0The host NGOs were also keen to bring in local groups to highlight local initiatives.<\/p>\n

GMO Free USA<\/a>\u00a0hosted the GMO education tent. Diana Reeves, GMO Free USA Executive Director, says\u00a0Young’s inclusion of her organisation on his national tour brings the GMO issue to music fans who might have otherwise not known about it. It also gave the organisation the chance to\u00a0connect with many farm belt residents.<\/p>\n

She says:<\/p>\n

“I heard story after story from residents who were concerned about increasing rates of cancer. \u2018My father has cancer. My aunt has cancer. My neighbors have cancer\u2019, said one concertgoer. At another venue we met a couple – he was a cancer survivor and his very pregnant wife was battling cancer. It was heartbreaking. We heard stories from farmers who have no choice but to grow GM crops because they are surrounded by neighbors who are growing them. We were told that they were certain they would be sued by Monsanto if they grew non-GMO because contamination by pollen drift would be inevitable. But they\u2019re afraid to speak out. These GMO growers are their neighbors. Their friends. Even their family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeves founded GMO Free USA with the organisation\u2019s first and ongoing campaign, a\u00a0national boycott<\/a>\u00a0of the Kellogg Company. Kellogg\u2019s net sales have been down for seven out of eight quarters.<\/p>\n

She adds:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing about the boycott is that it happens at a personal level and you can effect change without having \u2018activist\u2019 stamped on your forehead. It only takes one major food company to change the entire industry. America doesn\u2019t want GMOs. The faster Kellogg\u2019s gets the message, the faster their financial outlook will improve. I\u2019m looking forward to connecting with people along the West Coast, educating and growing the boycott.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thousands of educational brochures about GMOs and postcards informing people of the Kellogg\u2019s boycott were distributed in all the cities during the July Midwestern and East Coast tour.<\/p>\n

The public response during the tour was overwhelmingly positive. Luan Van Le, GMO Free USA Communications Director, states:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe imagined there would be more resistance to the information we were distributing in the Midwestern GMO agriculture belt. But what we found was strong support\u2026 Neil had the courage to record an unreserved album about the most pressing issues in this country and on this planet. There is too much at stake today to be silent or passive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming to Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neil Young argues that \u2018The Monsanto Years\u2019 are here and we are living them:<\/p>\n

\u201cMonsanto is the poster-child for what is wrong with corporate controlled government in our world. The Monsanto Years encompasses several associated subjects that millions of people worldwide are concerned about and active in. Earth is not ours. We are of the Earth. That’s how I feel. When we plunder our own home we hurt our children and their children after them.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a time when there is a concern about the\u00a0corrupt TTIP<\/a>\u00a0leading to an\u00a0influx of GMOs<\/a>\u00a0into Europe, the UK government\u00a0working hand in glove<\/a>\u00a0with the GMO biotech to get\u00a0GM crops planted<\/a>\u00a0in England above the heads of the public and apprehension about new genetic engineering techniques\u00a0side-stepping regulations<\/a>, Young is bringing his combination of music and activism to Europe.<\/p>\n

As was the case in North America, the activist village will be part and parcel of the package.\u00a0Beyond GM<\/a>\u00a0will be managing\u00a0all the GMO tents during the UK\/Republic of Ireland (ROI) leg and coordinating the GMO tents on the European mainland segment.<\/p>\n

Beyond GM\u00a0believes that campaigning needs to change and the tour presents a great opportunity. Co-founder and Director Pat Thomas Public feels that outreach and finding ways of taking the issues to the people is key to promoting engagement and change and that this kind of tour is ideal for reaching out to large groups of people who are not the \u2018usual suspects\u2019 \u2013 the same ones that turn up at every rally. In this respect, the activist village\u00a0provides a platform for grassroots NGOs to engage with a much bigger audience, one that may be sympathetic to their causes but which is not necessarily attracted to attend marches or meetings.<\/p>\n

Pat Thomas states:<\/p>\n

“The majority of people want to be GM free and believe the UK is somehow \u2018safe\u2019. Few realise that the meat and dairy they are eating is GM-fed or that the UK government is stealthily – and undemocratically – pushing ahead with plans to plant GMOs on our soil by 2017. New field trials have just been given the go ahead for GM camelina and GM potatoes and we are on track to start living the GMO nightmare that people in the Americas are so desperately trying to escape. Big public forums like Neil Young\u2019s The Monsanto Years tour and its activist village are an important opportunity to open people\u2019s eyes to what\u2019s really going on.”<\/p>\n

There will be lots of information available.\u00a0GM Free Me<\/a>\u00a0photos will be taken, and there will be various\u00a0free organic giveaways. The UK leg of the tour hopes to focus on and bring in agroecological groups (for example, the\u00a0Landworkers’ Alliance<\/a>\u00a0and urban solutions like those the\u00a0Kindling Trust<\/a>\u00a0works on) and also showcase local community supported agriculture projects.<\/p>\n

GMO groups expected to involved in the European segment of the tour include<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n

France: Inf\u2019OGM<\/p>\n

Spain: Amigos de la Tierra<\/p>\n

Belgium: The Field Liberation Movement<\/p>\n

Finland: Associated Organizations and Citizens to Promote GMO Free Finland<\/p>\n

Sweden: Friends of the Earth Sweden (stil tbc)<\/p>\n

Norway: Nettverk for GMO-fri mat og f\u00f4r (Network for GMO-free food and animal feed)<\/p>\n

Netherlands: ASEED (Action for Solidarity Environment Equality and Diversity)<\/p>\n

Switzerland: StopOGM<\/p>\n

Italy: Slow Food<\/p>\n

Germany: Gen Ethisches Netzwerk<\/p>\n

Austria: Global2000<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Farming groups will include (others to be confirmed) –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dublin: Landworkers Alliance<\/p>\n

Belfast: Boxa + another CSA scheme with info from Irish Organic Farmers & Growers<\/p>\n

Belgium: Bioforum\u2019s new agroecology network of 16 organisations<\/p>\n

Finland: Southern Finland Organic Farming Association<\/p>\n

Netherlands: working with ASEED again but to put together a different agroecology network<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Neil Young European Tour Dates<\/strong><\/p>\n

There may be one or two dates\/venues not yet confirmed that are not included below, but they won\u2019t have a village in them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UK\/ROI<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 5 \/ Glasgow \/ SSE Hydro NO VILLAGE<\/p>\n

June 7 \/ Belfast, Ireland \/ SSE Arena<\/p>\n

June 8 \/ Dublin, Ireland \/ 3Arena<\/p>\n

June 10 \/ Leeds, England \/ First Direct Arena<\/p>\n

June 11 \/ London, England \/ O2 Arena<\/p>\n

France\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 13 \/ Lille, France \/ Le Zenith de lille Arena<\/p>\n

June 15 \/ Lyon, France \/ Halle Tony Garnier<\/p>\n

June 16 \/ Marseille, France \/ Le D\u00f4me de Marseille<\/p>\n

Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 18 \/ Madrid, Spain \/ Mad Cool Festival<\/p>\n

June 20 \/ Barcelona, Spain \/ \u00a0El Poble Espanyol<\/p>\n

France<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 21 \/ Toulouse, France \/ Le Zenith de Toulouse<\/p>\n

June 23 \/ Paris, France \/ AccorHotels Arena<\/p>\n

Belgium<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 24 \/ \u00a0Antwerp, Belgium \/ Sportpaleis Arena<\/p>\n

Scandinavia<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 3 \/ Helsinki, Finland \/ Hartwall Arena<\/p>\n

July 5 \/ Rattvik, Sweden \/ Dalhalla Amphitheater<\/p>\n

July 7 \/ Larvik, Norway \/ Stavernfestivalen<\/p>\n

Netherlands<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 9 \/ Amsterdam, Netherlands \/ Ziggo Dome<\/p>\n

Switzerland<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 12 \/ Montreux, Switzerland \/ Montreux Jazz Fest,Auditorium Stravinski<\/p>\n

Italy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 13 \/ Padova, Italy \/ Villa Contarini Town Square<\/p>\n

July 16 \u00a0Lucca, Italy \/ Lucca Summer Festival, Piazza Napoleone<\/p>\n

July 18 \/ Milan, Italy \/ Estathe Market Sound Festival<\/p>\n

Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 20 \/ Leipzig, Germany \/ V\u00f6lkerschlachtdenkmal<\/p>\n

July 21 \/ Berlin, Germany \/ Waldb\u00fchne Amphitheatre<\/p>\n

Austria<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 23 \/ Linz, Austria \/ Clam Castle<\/p>\n

Colin Todhunter is an independent writer: his website is here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Young has a long history of activism. He is a co-founder of Farm Aid, which\u00a0works to support small and family farmers in North America, while his\u00a0song Ohio is\u00a0often considered\u00a0to be one of the greatest protest songs ever made. Last year, Young pledged a\u00a0$100,000 donation\u00a0to Vermont’s legal fight against the GMO-labelling lawsuit, and he has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1214,"featured_media":243140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,461],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"category-editorials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}