Until last weekend, I had never protested anything. Well, sure, I protest things all the time, but never formally. The March Against Monsanto, however, was one that I was happy to join in. Food is important. That seems so silly to have to say, yet does need saying.
Years ago, after dropping off our children at kindergarten, I wanted to go get
coffee with another mom. As I approached her, so did another mother, who
proceeded to speak to her about the food being served in the school
cafeteria. One of her issues was with the particular brand of yogurt
being provided. I interrupted, "Well, at least it's yogurt. It's
healthy."
I was given a look as though I had lobsters crawling out of my ears. "It has dyes, and additives, and sugar."
Her
delivery was rough, but I do have to admit that I hadn't ever - ever -
considered this. I had been brought up on boxed and canned food, as well
as candy colored yogurt. How was this not okay? Since then, I have
read much on food, and which foods are or are not healthy. My eating
habits have completely changed, and having lived without
these types of foods, I now understand how much sugar is added
unnecessarily to almost everything, and I see how unnecessary dyes and
additives are as well. But I remember well not knowing much about my
food, and I know there are many people who still don't think too hard
about it, having trusted food producers all their lives. There are so many of us who simply don't realize how fully our diet impacts our lives. I still struggle with this, thinking this junk or that junk won't hurt, but it does, and my body lets me know that it does. My anecdotal evidence aside, that we are headed to a near future where a couple of companies control our entire food supply absolutely outrages me. The argument in favor of GMOs is that they help feed the world. If that's true, how can people still be starving? It's because the companies that patent this food aren't giving it away. Even if they were, it would be a one-time deal, since planting the seeds from this food is completely illegal. Enough of my ranting for now. I encourage you to review the available information on both sides of the issue.
As for the protest itself, my local march happened on a beautiful Saturday. I had slathered myself in sunscreen and comfortable clothing. I didn't have a sign, but I didn't need one; the organizers had plenty, so I borrowed one. It simply read, "No 2 GMOs." Husband made an even simpler, but still terrific, sign: "Label it." We marched our 10 blocks, waving our signs at passers by, and waving them more enthusiastically when we were honked at. Not everyone shared our enthusiasm, which was certainly expected, but nothing bad happened.
On our walk back to headquarters, a woman driving by yelled out, "More GMOs! Extra GMOs!" Someone in our group yelled back a profanity, and I whispered to Husband, "She probably doesn't even know what GMOs are. She's just being a troll." He agreed. I didn't think about it too much right then, but now, I think, just you wait. I know there are people who don't understand protesting at all, ever. I was there because this cause is important to me for many reasons, but I realize that I'm no one to that stranger in her SUV at the stop light. Well, Stranger: just you wait. One day, you too will have a cause. Who knows what it may be: stopping texting while driving, your side of the abortion debate, raising awareness of the rare fatal disease you or your loved one is diagnosed with. You will have one. You may not organize or participate in a protest, or march, or even a Facebook group for your cause. But you will cheer upon your cause's victories, and boo upon its defeats. You will feel all the passion we feel about our cause. You may not act on that passion, though, and I can sympathize. I mean, you just never know when a random motorist will shout at you in favor of your opposition, and who needs that?
