1. Monsanto cash helped fund bill to stifle whistleblowers in Iowa
2. Millions Against Monsanto March - San Francisco, 23 April
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1. Monsanto cash helped fund bill to stifle whistleblowers in Iowa
by Tom Laskawy
GRIST, 6 Apr 2011
http://www.grist.org/industrial-agriculture/2011-04-06-monsanto-cash-helped-fund-bill-to-stifle-whistleblowers-in-iowa

Speaking of Monsanto, it turns out they are playing a role in Iowa's proposed anti-whistleblower bill -- a bill focused primarily on agriculture. Should the bill pass, it will become illegal to produce undercover videos at various types of agricultural facilities (as well as to get a job at a facility with the express intent of producing a video). Sarah Damian of the Government Accountability Project, a "whistleblower advocacy organization," observes over at the Food Integrity Campaign's blog that Monsanto has been throwing lobbying dollars behind Iowa's effort to draw a steel curtain around food production. And not without reason:

"... Monsanto has more facilities in Iowa than in any other state in the country, with more than 25 offices. The company is heavily invested in the bill's outcome because "crop operations" are also covered, which would apply to Monsanto's seed houses, pesticide manufacturing plants and research facilities throughout Iowa. The biotech and crop chemical giant wouldn't want any undercover videos produced on its clock, apparently.

"That's a bit ironic, however, given the fact that Monsanto investigators are notorious for trespassing on farmers' property and going to extreme measures to produce evidence of seed patent infringement, including posing as land mappers or even joining a local Alcohol Anonymous group to gain the farmers' trust and gain video access to their fields. Talk about undercover."

And don't think that Monsanto hasn't planned ahead. According to Damian, there are provisions in the bill that would allow Monsanto to continue snooping around farmers' fields in its ongoing search for so-called "seed thieves" aka "patent infringers."

Despite occasional setbacks and even uncertainty in the marketplace, let it not be said that Monsanto has lost its taste for playing the heavy.
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2. Millions Against Monsanto March - San Francisco
Saturday, April 23, 2011
http://www.ecologycenter.org/calendar/event.php?title=Millions+Against+Monsanto+March&eventID=35476

A grassroots-organized Millions Against Monsanto March will take place at the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco in conjunction with the local Earth Day festival. Join in and help by marching into the Earth Day festival to spread the word about GMO's and Organic Consumers Association's Truth in Labeling Campaign! Download campaign materials and posters from website.

Time: 11am - 6pm. Location: Civic Center Plaza, Fulton and Larkin Streets, in front of City Hall, San Francisco. Info: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/downloads.cfm