Last week, CCI members joined allies to Occupy the World Food Prize to protest the World Food Prize being awarded to scientists from Monsanto and Syngenta who invented Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) – the corporations that fuel factory farms in Iowa.
The week of action sparked a vigorous debate, changed the mainstream media coverage of the World Food Prize, educated the public, strengthened relationships between allied partner organizations, demonstrated movement power, and put corporate ag on the defensive.
CCI Members were joined in the week of action by Occupy the World Food Prize, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Oxfam, the Iowa State University Sustainable Agriculture Students Association, Union of Concerned Scientists, Center for Food Safety and the Pesticide Action Network.
Occupy World Food Prize week by the numbers:
- 10 events
- 11 days of action
- 750 CCI members took to the streets
- 347,114 petition signatures against GMOs and the World Food Prize delivered
Food should nourish our bodies, souls, land and communities not destroy them. People across the world are waking up to the realities of corporate farming, and now it’s our time to take back our food system!
If you didn’t get a chance to come to any of the events check out some of the news articles – it was a battle of competing narratives all week!
World Food Prize Stirs Controversy – USA Today
Monsanto Looks for ‘New Words’ on GMOs – Agriculture.com
Marchers protest World Food Prize, Monsanto – Des Moines Register
Protesters denounce ag groups, support alternatives to GMOs – Des Moines Register
Ghana cleric attends Occupy meeting – Des Moines Register
World Food Prize recipients defend their work – Radio Iowa
Ready to take action? Mark your calendars for the 2014 CCI Rally & Lobby Day at the Capitol on January 14, 2014. CCI members from across the state will converge at the capitol to tell our elected leaders it’s time to PUT PEOPLE FIRST!
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