EXCLUSIVE: MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO FIELD REPORT

BlueVino

Resist1776.info

5/25/2013

The March Against Monsanto started around noon here in Marietta, Ohio & I showed up a bit late to the party.  No matter, as there were only 5 of us at the protest anyway (compared to the 7 that had claimed they were going).  I showed up, helped w/ some signs, we put on our Guy Fawkes masks, & the 5 of us all marched around the block of the courthouse.

Noticing that traffic was a bit slow on about 70% of the block, we decided to just stand at a corner where the most traffic went by.  Our signs said things like “Monsanto is poison” “Monsanto is a Monopoly” with Bio-hazard symbols on it.  My sign said “Food u eat from Monsanto does THIS” and below the words was a before & after drawing of a healthy mouse & a mouse riddled w/ tumors.

I’ll admit, this was the first protest I’ve ever attended.  Prior to this, my only contact with protests was when I was in High School & the teachers protested.  Demanding higher pay.  Which was a bit rattling back then, because you’re used to a routine.  When something halts your routine, you can’t help but pause to think about it.  That’s what we were hoping to do.

Marietta, Ohio is a rather small town on the border of Ohio & West Virginia.  Surrounding towns are of similar size or smaller, so Marietta seemed the prime place to protest.

We’d get a lot of honks, thumbs up, & peace signs from people driving by.  Some would shout words of support–if you could make out what they were saying.  I heard one person yell “Monsanto Sucks!!”  Another yelled out “Newfags!”  Which is an online ‘term of endearment‘ of sorts.

A woman walked up to us & asked what Monsanto was.  Local Anon, Darstin Oryan explained to her that they manufacture GMO seeds & that a lot of our food contains Monsanto’s genetically modified ingredients.  She said, “Ah, ok, I thought that’s what they were.”

So we then decided to walk to another location a few blocks away as their was likely to be even more traffic there.  On the way, a car slowed down & the lady in the window could be seen mouthing the words to one of our signs followed by “what the heck?”  Once we got to our new location, that same car pulled up & it’s occupants asked us “What restaurant is Monsanto?”  So I explained to her that it’s not a restaurant.  They manufacture 90% of all seed used on American farms & that their genetically modified food ends up in most of the food we eat.  I explained that this is basically a Monopoly, which is illegal.  Her reply was “right.”  Another car with some young male occupants pulled up & they asked what Monsanto was.  We explained again.  Darstin added in “buy organic.”  To which they replied in a most milquetoast way “organic’s expensive,” & they drove away.

At our new location, we definitely got more attention.  A lot of it very positive.  One car that pulled up to the stoplight had what looked like a Mother driving & her teenage daughter sitting shotgun.  The Father was in the back seat slumped down a bit.  The whole time they were at the stoplight the Mother & daughter seemed confused at our signs or something.  Just as they were pulling away, the Father (remaining slumped down a bit) gave us a big smile & a thumbs up real quick while the occupants up front didn’t notice.  No, I don’t know why he did it in that way, I just thought it was funny.

One thing I noticed that I found odd, was that some people would refuse to look at you.  Not the majority, but a decent number.  As if they were pretending not to see the spectacle that we’ve clearly made of ourselves here in NORMALVILLE.  I’m still wondering what the point of purposefully ‘not reading the signs or making eye contact’ might be.

FULL ARTICLE HERE