PORTLAND, Maine — Monument Square was at the center of an unusual sight Saturday, when people dressed in black and yellow dropped to the ground after being sprayed with fake pesticide by a person dressed in a hazardous materials suit.
Calling themselves the “Green Initiatives,” the group led a couple hundred protesters dressed as bees and butterflies along Congress Street before they were “sprayed dead in the streets” in a demonstration designed to illustrate the allegedly harmful effects of the Monsanto corporation and its genetically modified foods.
What organizers called the “March for Food Freedom” aimed to highlight opposition to a bill in Congress: the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015.
First introduced in March by Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, the bill would negate any state GMO labeling laws. Protesters at the rally called it the DARK act, an acronym for Deny American’s Right to Know.
Two years ago, Maine passed a law that would mandate GMO labeling if five contiguous states enact a similar requirement.
For members of the Green Initiative, including Jack Eastman, the fight isn’t about eradicating GMO’s entirely; it’s simply about guaranteeing a consumer’s right to know.
“I’m opposed to corporate control over our food,” Eastman said. “I have a right to know what’s in my food.”
Whitley Marshall, one of the main organizers of the rally, said it’s a fundamental right to know what we put into our bodies, and 64 countries already have made the labeling of GMO products mandatory.
“There are a number of different studies that have shown toxic levels of glyphosate (an ingredient in the common pesticide Roundup) in human urine, blood and breast milk,” Marshall said.
Glyphosate was the first major herbicide paired with GMO seeds. Monsanto seeds are genetically altered to become resistant to glyphosate, and the chemical did its work well by eradicating what once were bothersome weeds, such as milkweed and honeysuckle, from harvests.
Monsanto is a proponent of genetically modified seeds because they produce bigger, more consistent yields that are much more resistant to diseases, pests and harsh weather. But according to the Portland protesters who dressed as bees Saturday, genetic modification of food sources creates more problems than it fixes.
“It’s just not right what Monsanto is doing,” Sean Waterhouse, who watched the demonstration unfold, said. “I can’t believe some people don’t even know what GMOs are.”
The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer recently classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
According to Marshall, who was spreading awareness on the importance of GMO labeling to attendees of the Deering Oaks farmers market four hours before the rally started, environmental and social problems arise from Monsanto’s work with GMOs. She started her explanation with a quote from Albert Einstein: “If the bees die, humans have four years.”
Cross-pollination, which threatens the integrity of organic crops and the eradication of plants such as milk weed, also is causing the bee and butterfly populations to decline at an alarming rate, Marshall said.
“We’re seeing a 90 percent decrease in bees and butterflies in the past decade,” Marshall said. “It’s a devastating state for our pollinators, which is a threat to our whole food supply.”
Genetically modified foods continue to spur hot debate in the U.S. and abroad. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s stance on GMOs is that they pose no health or safety risk.
Opponents and proponents of GMO use offer scientific studies to buttress their arguments, the science of which draws skepticism from the other side.
Although humans have only been consuming GMO products for about 20 years, opponents of GMO labeling say that is plenty of time to observe any ill effects.
“There’s absolutely no scientific evidence showing that GMOs pose a threat to humans,” Brian Baltovski, a Portland resident who stood at the edge of the rally wearing his “Keep Calm and Eat GMOs” T-shirt, said. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there. People just like to be anti-Monsanto, just because it’s a large corporation.”
According to Baltovski, it’s not right to demonize a technology just because a large corporation is profiting from it, especially one he believes can be the key to ending world hunger. Baltovski said most of the studies GMO opponents point to are plagued by numerous typos and tiny sample sizes.
“Most scientific organizations are pro-GMO,” Baltovski said. “They are more economically viable for farmers, and they help people in poorer countries.”
GMO ingredients exist in food products from ketchup and milk to apples and breakfast cereal, opponents of labeling argue. Opponents of mandatory GMO labeling point to unnecessarily high costs as a reason to avoid relabeling most of their products.
Several food companies, such as Chipotle, Ben & Jerry’s and Hershey’s, already are labeling their GMO or GMO-free products voluntarily.
Michael Anthony, a Portland resident dressed as a bee, said that even if GMOs proved to be harmless, he still doesn’t consider attending events such as the “March for Food Freedom” a waste of time. For him, it’s less about the science and more about supporting local farmers and advocating for consumers’ right to know what’s in the products they buy and the food they eat.
“People should know what they’re buying so they can make the choice to live healthier,” Anthony said.