by Brewster Kneen

Excerpt from Farmageddon: "Food and the Culture of Biotechnology," by Brewster Kneen. Available at the EarthSave office. It's a fine read.

The first and most obvious step in resistance is always at the level of personal conscience.

When politics is subservient to the corporately controlled, democracy may best be expressed by decontaminating fields and gardens or taking action in the retail market itself. For the public, this means making conscientious choices about what is purchased or whether it is bartered or even grown at home.

The same holds true for farmers and gardeners and all those who want to take greater responsibility for feeding themselves, their families and their communities. The first step is to shun all GE seeds and everything associated with them. The next step is to go back to selecting and saving your own seed and trading with others. This ancient practice is being revived more and more frequently around the world as people experience the boitech companies' tightening grip on the seed trade.

The retailers, wholesalers and processors who rely on your dollar are very sensitive to your public opinion, and your "vote" will be taken seriously. It can be cast not only by boycotting GE products or suspected GE products, but also by contacting the companies producing them through the addresses on the labels of the canola oil bottles, the bags of potatoes, the milk cartons and all the corn and soy products. Copies of your letters, perhaps with an additional note could even be sent to your elected representatives.

There is also the simple and civil action of talking directly with local store clerks and managers and translating personal choices into public actions, such as saying to the checkout clerk in a voice audible to those near you that you would like to buy this canola oil (or whatever), but not if it is genetically engineered or comes from GE crops. Let them know if the product is inadequately labeled and does not provide this essential information. Such simple resistance can be undertaken with levity and respect and will generate some interesting exchanges....