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Join the Sacramento Mobilization! June 20-25

Call for a Pagan Cluster

On June 23-25, agricultural ministers from WTO nations have been invited to Sacramento to be treated to days of US lobbying to reach international agreements on acceptance of genetically altered food (sometimes know as Frankenfood), as part of a lead-up to the WTO summit in September, and a giant expo highlighting the wonders of industrial agriculture and biotechnology. From June 20-25, concerned people will converge in Sacramento to educate the public, and to protest and disrupt the meeting in five days of teach-ins, a legal, permitted march and rally, and nonviolent direct action.

  A large Pagan Cluster is gathering to support these actions.  We invite you to join!  Here’s some of what we could be doing: To participate in the planning and organizing, please join the livriv@yahoogroups.com by sending an email to livriv-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and putting ‘subscribe’ in the subject line.

Nonviolent direct action trainings are being organized in Sacramento, San Francisco, Marin county and the north coast of California.  Check here for details or check www.sacmobilization.org for more information on the action.

The uncontrolled release of genetically altered and engineered organisms poses one of the greatest threats to the health and resilience of the interconnected web of life.  Genetically modified corn plants have already brought us pollen that kills monarch butterflies and pollution of the gene pool of the original ancestors of corn.  Monsanto’s ‘terminator’ seed threatens the viability of wild seed and plant stocks.  We have no way of knowing what long term health effects will be caused by eating modified food, yet the Bush administration is exerting all its weight to force reluctant countries to open their doors to GMOs, genetically modified organisms.

The US has recently stepped up its campaign to force the rest of the world to accept genetically modified food, suing the European countries who reject GMOs in the WTO, and tying AIDS money to African countries to their acceptance of genetically modified food.  African countries, in the past, have basically said they’d rather go hungry than accept the stuff, as it poses a long-term risk to their food supply.

Via Campesina, the largest organization of small farmers in the world, has asked us to take action to oppose this meeting.   The forest defenders of Cascadia Summer are coming to protest GMO trees.  The convergence is already shaping up to be one of the most powerful global justice actions in the U.S. since Seattle.  And because it’s close to the home turf of many of us, we can have deep involvement in the overall organization and shaping of the actions.

Phone: 916-497-1111
Website: www.sacmobilization.org
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