Press Release – March 2007

Joint International
 GMO Opposition Month

An International network of people gives a flat refusal to the trading of agro alimentary GMOs
Carrying on the informative actions conducted every year since 2004 [1], local organizations and world citizens are together refusing GMOs “in fields and plates”, on the occasion of the Joint International GMO Opposition Month (JIGMOM), to be celebrated in some thirty countries, from the 24th of March until the 12th of May 2007.
This popular movement responds to the greed of a few agrochemicals firms which try to seize upon what is the most essential to humanity: Food. 
Today, the international resistance to this commercial invasion is supported by accumulating pieces of evidence:
- Concerning Society, the outcome of GM crops can be catastrophic, as shown for instance by the numerous cases of ruined Indian peasants who have been led to commit suicidal, after having taken up GE cotton [2].
- Concerning Health, signs of toxicity are clear [3], despite attempts to hide experimental results [4]. Furthermore, the genetic contamination of the food chain by the Bayer’s LLRICE601 demonstrates that even the staple food of half the earth population could be affected.
Together with the usual actions aimed at informing the general public, which include: conferences, film projections, debates and stands, the 2007 format will allow longer and more targeted means. It will be possible to react by Street Festivals or Counter-conferences either to the GMO promotional operation or to “reapers” trials, distributed along the same period at Toulouse in France, Santa Fe in Argentina, Krakow in Poland, and then Boston in the USA. Other major events will notably happen in Brussels, Istanbul and Mexico.
Long-lasting actions will be carried out along the JIGMOM « six weeks a month » [1]: On the 24th of March, a team of polish partners  star a 10-days fast, following the hunger strikers of Montreuil (close to Paris).  Thirteen Asian countries will then organize a week of actions to protect the rice (WORA). The GenArctic expedition will spend two weeks for investigating possible contaminations of the wild plants at the north of Norway. The “Scarecrows Caravan” will cross Portuguese villages to make young people and farmers sensitive to the GMO question. An “information Tour” will go through several villages in Togo.
In France, initiatives will be taken during the full month. In Paris, beside a program that includes a film festival, street diners, market stands, a conference will for the first time allow French organizations representatives to meet Japanese ones, who have notably initiated the AMAP movement (Associations to Maintain Peasant Farming).
Alternative systems to the “GMO business” will thus be addressed.
The only positive aspect of agro alimentary GMOs that will eventually remain is that they have made people aware of the current collusion between scientific, political, industrial and financial authorities which has driven their development. This awareness is fortunately both local and global, as shown in the current worldwide demonstration.
JIGMOM Co-ordination of the île-de-France region
Contacts : 
Ile-de-France : Michèle Millot (06.83.45.99.11) ; national : Juan Roy de Menditte (06.78.86.69.98) ; international : Dominique Béroule (01.30.47.46.60)
[1] Updated JIGMOM Program on http://altercampagne.free.fr/ 
[2] Suicides of more than 40,000 farmers: http://www.navdanya.org/news/06may08.htm 
[3] J.M. Smith « Genetic roulette » The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, Yes Book, March 2007.
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/GeneticRoulette/index.cfm 
[4] G.-E. Séralini, D. Cellier, J. Spiroux de Vendomois “Criigen  New Analysis of a Rat Feeding Study with a Genetically Modified Maize Reveals Signs of Hepatorenal Toxicity”, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Springer New York. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00244-006-0149-5